


The Wildling Guard Of Winterfell

by roseleslie87fan



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:27:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 61
Words: 34,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23943097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseleslie87fan/pseuds/roseleslie87fan
Summary: Ned Stark returns home after the end of Robert's rebellion only to have maester Luwin inform him that a wildling man from beyond the Wall asks to meet with him...
Relationships: Jon Snow/Ygritte
Comments: 55
Kudos: 14





	1. A Visitor

**Author's Note:**

> AU fan fiction
> 
> Written for entertainment only
> 
> Ygritte is Tormund's daughter in this story

281, after Aegon's Conquest (AC)

Ned Stark opened the door of his solar with a tired sigh, feeling fatigue seeping through his bones after a whole day ride from the Tower of Joy in Dorne, where his beloved sister Lyanna breathed her last after giving birth to a son, Aegon Targaryen, the Sixth of His Name; a man with thick red hair and beard, dressed in heavy furs; he was unarmed, Ned saw, an empty sheath for a short sword or a long dagger on the man's left hip; in his arms he carried a small bundle, wrapped in heavy furs, and Ned walked closer... He saw a baby girl with a tuft of red hear, a few shades darker than that of the man and icy blue eyes... The man said his name is Tormund, and that he had to escape from the farther North, and that he brought his daughter here to be cared for by the Starks... - Her name is Ygritte - Tormund replied quietly at Ned's questioning look, his eyes watering slightly; Ned nodded, gently taking Ygritte from her father's arms, and he, the ever grim and serious Eddard Stark, smiled at the baby girl in his arms; she cooed quietly, reaching with her small arms towards him, and then she fell asleep a moment later; in silence, Tormund turned his back and walked towards the door, wiping his eyes...


	2. The Execution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The news of an important visitor reach Winterfell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this chapter on, the story will follow TV series canon for the major part of it

299 AC

Jon, Robb and Ygritte stood in the main courtyard, watching Bran practicing his shooting with a bow and arrow, till this moment, he regularly missed every shot, causing his older brothers to laugh good naturedly, while a smirk played in the corner of Ygritte's mouth; little Rickon, sitting on a wooden fence near the stables, holding a wooden toy sword in his hand, giggled at his older brother's bad aim... Ygritte grew up to be a real Northern beauty, prettier than even the oldest Stark daughter, Sansa, herself, and people would always say she looked like a princess, shame that she was born among the Wildlings beyond the Wall... Being who she is, Ygritte paid no heed to the things people were talking about, not letting herself be formed by those talks, not allowing anyone to turn her from a tough Free Folk girl into a soft, civilized lady; it all came instinctively to her, the call of the wilderness always awake in her soul, despite her being raised in a civilized environment for eighteen years... - And which one of you was a marksman or a markswoman at ten, except Ygritte? - the boys heard the voice of their father and looked up; he and their mother, or stepmother in Jon's case, lady Catelyn of House Tully of Riverrun, stood on the balcony, overlooking the courtyard... - Keep practicing, Bran. Go on - Ned addressed his younger son softly. - Bran - Ygritte spoke, walking closer - you're standing a bit to the right; move slightly to the left, there... Now, get your right elbow up a bit, aim for two seconds and then release the arrow... Now! - she told him; Bran did as Ygritte instructed him and the arrow hit the center of the target... - Good, very good! - Ned spoke and clapped a couple of times; Ygritte, Bran, Jon and Robb looked up, seeing the portly Master-at-Arms, ser Rodrik Cassel, approaching, followed by a Stark ward, Theon Greyjoy... - They have captured the deserter from the Night's Watch - ser Rodrik informed Ned. - Get the lads to saddle their horses - Ned ordered Theon; the young Greyjoy nodded and left. - Tell Bran he's coming too - he told ser Rodrik. - Ned - Catelyn spoke - do you have to? - Law is law, my lady - ser Rodrik replied. - Ten is too young to see such things - Catelyn argued. - He won't be a boy forever and winter is coming - Ned replied darkly and left, accompanied by ser Rodrik; Catelyn looked down into the courtyard, where Robb lead Bran and Rickon away, to their chambers; the shooting practice was over, and Jon and Ygritte were picking the arrows from the ground; Catelyn's eyes glared at Jon, sharply, for a moment, until Ygritte glanced back up at her and narrowed her eyes, dangerously, at the woman who looked that way at the boy the young spearwife fell in love with, although she kept that a secret for the moment being, deciding to reveal that to all when the right time comes; Catelyn huffed and walked away, not being able to endure the wildling girl's piercing gaze for too long...

************

I know I broke my oath; I should have gone back to the Wall and inform them... - Will, the blonde haired recruit of the Night's Watch, formerly a poacher on the lands ruled by House Mallister, spoke quietly - I saw the White Walkers; I saw them... - In the name of Robert of House Baratheon, the First of His Name, I, Eddard of House Stark, lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, sentence you to die. - Ned swung the blade of Ice, the Valyrian steel sword of House Stark, in a downward arch, beheading Will... - Are you all right? - Ygritte asked Bran quietly; she and Jon gripped the younger boy's shoulders in a comforting manner; he blinked once and nodded, shortly...


	3. The King arrives

Golden banners with a black crowned stag and crimson banners with a golden lion fluttered in the crisp air; the fat man with salt-and-pepper hair and bushy beard rode inside, and Ygritte decided that she was not too much impressed with the Southern king; she watched as a servant brought a foot stool for the king to get down from the saddle more easily... - Where's the Imp? - she heard Arya's question and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth; she decided that she rather liked the youngest Stark daughter, Arya would fit in with the Free Folk well, Ygritte thought, thanks to her open, honest ways of behaving and her straightforwardness, she was not all sneaky and pretending like Sansa... Honestly, Ygritte had not had a good opinion about Sansa and her close female companions like Jeyne Poole, daughter of the steward of Winterfell, Vayon Poole or about Beth Cassel, ser Rodrik's daughter, as well, but she didn't mind that too much for as long as Jon and Arya were allowed by lord Stark to spend a certain amount of time with her every day... - ... to the crypt - the King's rough voice brought her attention back to what was happening in the courtyard at the moment; she saw Ned giving an awkward nod and he followed Robert through the arched passage, and then the two men disappeared from Ygritte's sight... - our brother? - she heard the queen... _**Cersei**_ , she recalled, speaking softly to her brother... - Go find the little beast - she saw Jaime turning his back and leaving...

************

Ygritte stood in the corner of the Great Hall in Winterfell, dressed in her furs, having a silver pin shaped like a direwolf's head attached to her left breast; as per Ned's instructions, she was armed with a dagger in the fur sheath on her left hip and a long spear in her right; she munched on a leg of a roasted duck glazed in honey and with an aroma of rosemary... The Lion Queen glared with disapproval at her husband Stag King's behavior, the young spearwife noticed; he grabbed the breasts of a maid dressed in a coarse dress and buried his face in her ample cleavage... - ...you bled yet, little dove? - Ygritte's gaze wandered towards the table at which the queen sat alongside with Catelyn Tully-Stark. - Yes, Your Grace - Sansa replied with a slight smile... - _**Southerners...**_ \- Ygritte scoffed on the inside, glaring unnoticingly at the highborn lion bitch with undisguised contempt; the way the blonde whore put on a false grin, even a Free Folk babe would see through her for who and what she really was... - Arya! - Sansa's loud shriek brought Ygritte back to attention, and she saw Jeyne wiping off a spoonful of porridge which Arya flinged at her from her cheek; she watched in amusement as Robb lifted Arya from her place on the bench she was sitting on and then he carried her out of the Great Hall, Ygritte was barely stopping herself from not bursting into loud laughter here and now where she stood...


	4. Leaving the North (Part I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned and a part of his family (including Jon), Ygritte, a few guards and the royal entourage are getting ready to leave Winterfell...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will use Icelandic language as the language of The First Men in this story
> 
> Written for entertainment purposes only

Ygritte walked around the courtyard, now fully armed, having a bow and a quiver of arrows in addition to her dagger and long spear; she watched the people who were to travel South in an hour's time finishing the last thing while they prepared to travel; she and Jon will also go to King's Landing, while Catelyn, Robb, Bran and Rickon were to stay in Winterfell along with ser Rodrik and maester Luwin... She was standing at the bottom of the rundown tower for a moment, closing her eyes at the moment, feeling a bit nostalgic for having to leave the place where she grew up, not knowing how much time all of them will have to spend in the capital... She leaned her spear on the wall of the tower and wiped away a tear that fell from her eye, running down her cheek... - Uh! - she gasped in pain a moment later when she felt something hitting her back; she fell on the ground, feeling someone prostrated on the top of her, and she looked at who it was... - Bran? - she asked in confusion - what happened? - I-I climbed the tower and saw... - he muttered, blushing awkwardly. - You saw what? - Ygritte asked gently, getting up, gripping the boy by his shoulders and asking him to look her in the eyes... - I... I saw the queen and her brother doing... - Bran muttered. - _**Megi gömlu guðir Norðursins bölva þeim** **!**_ (May the Old Gods of the North curse on them!) - Ygritte swore in the language of the First Men, her eyes wide in anger and shock; hearing the steps running down the stairs, she grabbed her spear, gripping the shaft with both hands, and then Jaime appeared at the bottom of the tower, gripping his sword; Ygritte turned the tip of her spear towards his chest... - Step away from the boy, Wildling - Jaime spoke softly, but Ygritte shook her head no... Jaime swung his blade towards her, she blocked with her spear, but Jaime cut her spear off, a centimeter below the tip, leaving a useless wooden shaft in her hands, she dropped it and unsheathed her dagger, but Jaime disarmed her, swinging his sword twice, and he put the tip of his blade on her throat... - Surrender - he whispered coldly, but then Jory Cassel appeared, Ned's captain of household guard, followed by two Stark soldiers holding their spears, while Jory had his sword unsheathed, its tip turned towards Jaime... - Drop your sword, Kingslayer - Jory spoke. - How dare you savages talk to your betters that way? - Cersei asked haughtily and frowned upon the Stark men... Two Lannister soldiers appeared behind the twins, their swords unsheathed as well; Ygritte pulled an arrow from her quiver and nocked her bow: Jaime took a step forward and swung his blade, aiming at Bran, but Ygritte fired the arrow, hitting his left shoulder; she fired another arrow and one of the two Lannister soldiers fell on the ground with an arrow in his neck... Ned, ser Rodrik and three more guards appeared a few moments later, their swords unsheathed, and Jaime sighed dejectedly and let his sword hit the ground; Jory and ser Rodrik grabbed his arms, while the other four guards aimed their spears at Cersei; Ygritte took her dagger from the ground and returned it to her sheath, and then she asked Bran to follow her, taking him to his mother, while Ned ordered his men to take the twins before the king...

\- TO BE CONTINUED... - 


	5. Leaving the North (Part II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Travel to the South begins

They rode out through the Main gate of Winterfell half an hour later; Robert and Ned were in the front, followed by ser Meryn, and then came ser Rodrik, The Hound, Jon, Ygritte, Jory, Vayon Poole, Alyn, Desmond, Porther and a few other Stark soldiers, and the Baratheon and Lannister men rode a few paces behind them, a hundred-and-ten people all in all... Jaime and Cersei were put together into the carriage as per Robert's decree, and their children were inside with them as well; Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella... Tyrion spurred his horse and rode a bit to the front, and now Jon flanked him on his left side, Ygritte on his right...

************

The group stopped by the waters of The Neck, near The Greywater Watch, in mid-afternoon after a good several hours of riding and the large of the group threw themselves into the task to make a camp, because they were going to spend the night here... Arya wandered away, followed by her direwolf, Nymeria, but Jon and Ygritte decided to go after her to look that nothing bad happens to her, and Jon's direwolf, Ghost, came with them... Arya practiced some amateur moves with her thin sword, Needle, which Jon made for her a few days before they left Winterfell; Jon and Ygritte sat on the cluster of rocks near the river, watching Arya spinning and thrusting her thin blade forward like she was stabbing her opponent... Jon's gaze shot upwards suddenly when he saw Joffrey approaching slowly, unsheathing his sword; Jon gripped the hilt of Longclaw, the sword that Jeor Mormont, the current Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, gifted to House Stark when his son Jorah committed a crime of selling a group of poachers to a Tyroshi slaver and was forced to escape over the Narrow Sea, to the continent of Essos, so now the Starks had two swords, counting Ice; Jon got up slowly, and Ygritte did the same a moment later... - ... do we have here? A little girl who wants to be a knight, eh? - Joffrey spoke mockingly. - Well, let's see what you know with that sword, little girl! - I'm not a little girl! - Arya argued heatedly, making Joff's face go red with anger... - A savage like you needs to learn some manners when addressing her betters! - the spoiled brat of a prince yelled - you do not talk back to the prince and an heir to the crown! - he swung his blade downwards, only to be halted by Jon's blade... - You dare, bastard?!? - Joffrey now yelled even more loudly. - You have the nerve to disrespect a true born prince like this? - You're not - Ygritte spoke suddenly - I 'ave found out tha' yer mother fucked 'er own brother an' tha' all three o' ya are their children, you an' yer brother an' sister, neither one o' ya are the kids o' the fat stag king - she said. - I'll gut you for this lie, you filthy savage bitch! - Joffrey yelled, but Ygritte halted his swing with the tip of her other spear and she punched his chin with her right fist, making him spit out two teeth and a bit of blood, and then she whacked him in the gut with the shaft of her spear, making him double over and then she whacked his right wrist, making him drop his sword... - Ya better run along, boy - she said - if ya make me come at ya again, I promise ya won' like it one bit. - You... You can't! - Joffrey whimpered, all of his bravado and pretense of courage gone, like swept away with a blow of wind. - Oh, can't I? - Ygritte sneered at him with contempt, and Joffrey turned his back and slinked away, muttering insults aimed at Ygritte, while she crouched and grabbed his sword from the ground, deciding to keep it for the time being...


	6. The Hearing

The night fell, and now it was the other day of their travel South; Ned, Jory, Arya, Jon and Ygritte entered the tavern and were about to order something to eat, when Ned saw Robert's steward entering and informing them that the king and queen requested their immediate presence; Ned sighed dejectedly... They got up and left the tavern, walking towards their encampment and entering the royal tent a few minutes later... Robert and Cersei were sitting, their faces frowning heavily; Joffrey stood on the left of Cersei's chair, his right wrist bound and his facial expression mirroring that of his mother. - What is the reason that we were summoned before You, Your Grace? - Ned asked politely, but coldly, bowing slightly... - Your bastard son and that wild whore whom he has as his lover attacked my son, completely unprovoked, and they injured him; I want to see them both punished for what they did - Cersei said. - Quiet, woman! - Robert yelled at her - now, let the wild girl come a bit closer - he ordered, and Ygritte stepped forward, bravely, looking Robert straight in the eye with a slight frown. - It is customary to kneel before your King, girl - Cersei admonished her, but Ygritte was not having it from the incestuous slut... - 'E is not me king - she replied - 'owever, me an' Jon were sittin' down on the bank o' the river, watching 'is sister practicing with 'er sword, when this one 'ere appeared - she glanced in Joffrey's direction, fixing him with a sharp look - and 'e unsheathed 'is sword an' started t' mock Arya, saying 'So a little girl wants to be a knight, eh?', an' then 'e said tha' 'A savage like 'er needs t' learn some manners while talkin' t' 'er betters an' that she will not talk back t' the prince an' the heir t' the throne...' - Lies! - Joffrey shouted - the bastard blocked my blade and the savage whore hit me in the guts with the shaft of her spear and then she hit my wrist, making me drop my sword and punched me in the chin with her right fist, making me spit out blood and two of my teeth she broke, and she threatened me! - Seven hells! - Robert roared - I'll have to discipline you, girl. I rather like you... - he stopped, not knowing her name - Ygritte - she replied coolly. - Ygritte of the Free Folk. I like your spirit and your bravery, but I will have to punish you, nevertheless. Ned. - Yes, your Grace? - Ned looked at his friend apprehensively... - Take her outside, tie her to a pole and give her ten lashes. - As you wish, you Grace - Ned bowed; Ygritte pulled out her dagger, removed her bow and quiver of arrows and passed it all to Jon, while she gave her spear to Jory; Ned gripped her upper arm and led her out of the tent; a few moments later the sound of clothes being ripped was heard outside, and then the sound of the whip cracking through the air... There was no sound coming out of Ygritte's mouth during the first four lashes, but then... - Aah! - Ygritte yelled loudly and painfully as the whip hit her bare back for the fifth time leaving a bloody gash across her backside... She was untied a couple of minutes later and led away to a smaller tent, where Robert's maester applied a healing ointment on her back and gave her a cup of milk of the poppy to sleep through the night more easily; Jon and Jory left the royal tent, carrying her weapons with them...


	7. King's Landing

Ned, Jory, Jon and Ygritte rode through the gates, finally entering the capital a couple of days later; Ned was the first one to get down from the saddle, removing his gloves... - Lord Stark - a Throne Room court master approached him - your presence is requested at the meeting of the Small Council, if you please. - Jory - Ned glanced behind on his right - help the girls to settle in; Jon, Ygritte, you two come with me. - Yes, my lord - Jory replied and got down from the saddle, while Jon and Ygritte walked after Ned...

************

It is a great pleasure to finally meet you, lord Stark - spoke a small man with shortly cropped dark hair, trimmed mustache and a goatee, wearing brown breeches, boots and a dark coat, his left breast adorned with a silver pin in the shape of a mockingbird. - Lord Baelish - Ned spoke curtly - I believe you knew my brother Brandon once? - he asked; Ygritte narrowed her eyes at the small man with a weasel-like face, and Jon also had a similar reaction, she saw... - ...too well, my lord - Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish replied - I still carry the token of his gratitude, from navel to collarbone. - It seems you chose the wrong man - Ned said dryly. - No, it was not a man I chose, but rather one Catelyn Tully; a woman worth fighting and dying for, I'm certain you'll agree. - Ned nodded curtly, and then he looked at a young man with shortly cropped dark hair and lower face fully covered with a neatly trimmed dark beard... - Renly! - Ned exclaimed and the two men exchanged the short hug in a friendly manner. - Grand Maester - Ned nodded to an old man with beard white as snow that reached the top of his chest; he was dressed in grey robes made of coarse cloth. - Lord Stark - the old man, Pycelle, replied; he reached into a pocket and pulled out a pin made of gold in a shape of a hand holding a circle - I believe this belongs to you now - he extended his arm, passing the badge to Ned. - Thank you, Grand Maester - Ned said, attaching the badge to his brown leather surcoat. - Lord Stark - a portly bald man spoke last, his hands hidden in the wide sleeves of his floor length robes - would you care to introduce us to your small entourage? - he spoke in a melodious and calm voice. - I don't see why not, lord Varys - Ned said - the boy is my adopted baseborn son Jon Snow, and the girl is his lover Ygritte, a spearwife of the Free Folk from the far North beyond the Wall. They are the bodyguards of me and my family... - A bastard and his wildling lover? - Varys asked skeptically; Ned confirmed with a short nod. - I fear that the Queen will not like that, my lord - Varys shook his head sadly. - Quite honestly, lord Varys, I care not what the Queen will or will not like - Ned replied coldly - I am of the opinion that the certain Wildlings are to be trusted more than some of you whom I see sitting here as the members of this Small Council - he said, fixing Littlefinger and grand maester Pycelle with a sharp glare for a few seconds...


	8. The She-Lion's Ruminations

The night was falling slowly, and Cersei paced in her chambers, her mind occupied with thoughts of paying back to those who humiliated her and her son back in the North; oh how she would like to lay her hands on Ned Stark's bastard and that Wildling whore of his and teach them that nobody messes with the Lannisters, that the Lions always pay their debts; but, what was she supposed to do? Then an idea occurred to her; she'd feed Robert the false information that Ned Stark was planning to overthrow him and that he made an alliance with the self proclaimed King-beyond-the-Wall, Mance Rayder, formerly a brother of the Night's Watch... She'd fill Robert's head with lies that Stark was recruiting the Northern houses loyal to him, like Glovers, Mormonts, Karstarks, Manderlys, Cervyns and Umbers, and also some of the Wildling clans, like the cannibalistic Thenns, and those who inhabited the isle of Skagos, and giants; then, Robert will have no other choice but to relieve Stark of his position and name her brother the Hand of the King, while the honorable Ned Stark, his bastard and the Wildling slut will be locked up in the dungeons below the Red Keep, and there they will await to be executed by ser Ilyn Payne, the King's Justice, the royal headman... Cersei smirked maliciously, basking in the glory of her mind being able to think about the easiest ways how to get rid of her enemies, and she walked over to a small table and poured herself a cup of Dornish red from the pitcher...


	9. The King's Bastard

It was late morning the next day and Ned, Jory, Ygritte and Jon were riding their horses down the Street of Steel towards Tobho Mott's smithy, two Stark men walking behind them, armed with swords, shields and long spears; here and there they would pass an occasional Gold Cloak, a man from the City Watch, or a Lannister soldier, but they paid them no heed; a few minutes later they found the smithy and they saw Mott standing in front of it, wiping his soot-stained hands on his leather apron; Ned walked closer and exchanged a few words with the smith, while Jon and his girlfriend stood watch, glancing around warily... - Gendry! - Mott called loudly, and a well built and slightly muscled young man with hair as black as night, a few shades darker than Jon's and his eyes the color of dry ice, more cold blue in color than Ygritte's were, walked out... - Good day to you, lad - Ned greeted the boy - when the former Hand of the King, lord Jon Arryn paid a visit here, what did he asked you? - About my mother - Gendry replied - he also asked me if I liked it here, and about the helmet I made, he wanted to see it. -I would also like to see it - Ned said. - I... - Gendry stuttered and cleared his throat - I made it for me. - Boy, this man is the Hand of the King! - Mott yelled - forgive me, my lord Hand. - There is nothing to forgive - Ned said - but, if the day comes when Gendry would rather wield a sword than make one, I ask that you send the boy to me. - Of course, my lord Hand - Mott replied with a bow, and Ned turned and walked out... - Have we found anything? - Jory asked. - Yes - Ned nodded - Robert's bastard son. Our work here is done for the time being, so let's go back to the Red Keep. - They came out in front of Littlefinger's brothel, and there, in the saddle, sat Renly Baratheon with half a dozen soldiers a few paces behind him; they had the tips of their spears aimed at Ned, Jon, Ygritte, Jory and those two Stark soldiers, while Renly held his sword... - Renly...? What is the meaning of this? What happened? - It grieves me to do what I have, lord Stark, but I will have to arrest you all; I found out that you plan to gather an army made of the men from Northern houses loyal to you and some Wildling clans from beyond the Wall and you will send for them to march on King's Landing... Seize them - he ordered his men, and they started closing in. - That sounds like a lie of a Lannister - Ned said putting his hand on the hilt of his sword, but not unsheathing it yet; Jon, Jory and the two soldiers did the same, while Ygritte pulled out an arrow and nocked her bow - Cersei wants to heal her wounded pride because Jon and Ygritte proved her and her firstborn son the liars, so now she is trying to make us look bad in Robert's eyes. - I may be a fool because of this - Renly said - but I believe you. Stand down! - he ordered his men, sheathing his sword, and then he turned his horse and rode away, his men following after. - Come - Ned said now it is time for us to go back as well. - He, Jon, Ygritte and Jory got into the saddles and then they left the city square followed by their two infantry men...


	10. Grim News, Dark Decisions

Ned spend the rest of that day, ever since he arrived into the Throne Room in the mid-afternoon, listening to requests for justice, mostly, from the small folk from the Riverlands: a fisherman from the Red Fork opened a sack and poured rotten fish on the floor, a herd of trouts, and Ned realized that whoever spoiled the waters did that to mock and besmirch his lady wife's house, the Tullys of Riverrun; next, an old man stepped forward, leaning on his walking stick and told them all about how a group of brigands led by a giant of a man in armor attacked and burned a wooden holdfast called the Wendish-town in the vicinity of Mummer's Ford, and those few survivors were forced to retreat into the holdfast named Sherrer, made of stone; lord Karyl Vance was not there at the moment, or else he would have had acted... - Send a raven to lord Tywin Lannister of Casterly Rock - Ned addressed a squire - inform him that he is to appear before the Throne in five-and-ten days and justify the misdeeds the brigands under his command did, or he will be declared an enemy of the Crown. Also, if he refuses to do so, he will have a Northern force consisting of Houses loyal to the Starks, and certain clansmen from the far North beyond the Wall, namely giants and Thenns right on his doorstep... Is that clear? - Yes my lord Hand - the squire bowed and left to write a letter...

************

 _ **...or he will be declared and enemy of the Crown.... he will have a Northern force... Houses loyal to the Starks... giants and Thenns right on his doorstep...**_ \- it seems that our dear wolf lord from the North decided to bare his fangs a bit too much then what is good for him - Tywin commented showing the letter to his brother, Kevan - he has to learn that the lion does not concern himself with the opinion of the sheep - he said, crumpling the letter in his hand, deciding not to reply... Of course, what he did not knew was that Ned sent ravens to deliver the letters in which he asks Mance Rayder, lady Maege Mormont, lord Robett Glover, lord Jon 'The Greatjon' Umber and lord Wyman Manderly to gather as much men in arms between them as they can, and then to march on the Westerlands... 


	11. The Trap

Late afternoon slowly flowed towards the evening, while Robert sat on the Throne, grumbling something and drinking wine from the cup, slowly, when he heard steps and looked up; Littlefinger walked towards the Throne, at a deliberate slow pace... - Come with me, your Grace - he said - I've got something to tell you, and it is better that you hear it in your bedchamber, far away from the eavesdroppers. - What is it? - Robert growled impatiently, but he still got up; Littlefinger reached behind the Throne and pulled out Ygritte's bow and an arrow he stole from the bedchamber that she and Jon resided in; slowly, he nocked the arrow and pulled the bowstring; Robert turned to face him, in shock, and it was all over in the next moment; the arrow pierced his neck, and Robert fell on his knees, the half emptied cup of wine falling from his hand and hitting the stone floor of the Throne Room with a loud clatter... Littlefinger smirked deviously; now the Northern wildling bitch will be accused of killing the King and both she and her bastard lover will be locked up in the dungeons below the Red Keep, in separate cells, and now the only thing left for him to do was to try to find a way to get rid of the damned Ned Stark... He walked away, slowly, through the secret doors that only he and Varys knew about, and after he got out of the Throne Room, he walked slowly back towards Jon's and Ygritte's bedchambers, leaving her bow in its usual place, in the corner near their bed, leaning on the wall...

************

Jon and Ygritte returned to the Red Keep half an hour later, with the falling of the early night, and they walked down the hall towards their chambers, when they were halted by a group of five Lannister soldiers, armed with spears and swords, the tips of their spears aimed at two lovers; Jon turned to look behind him, hearing the steps, and he saw a group of five Baratheon soldiers standing at their backs; he muttered a curse in the language of the First Men, too quiet for anyone to hear, and he unsheathed Longclaw, while Ygritte turned her spear in the defensive position. - Surrender - one of the Baratheon men told them - you two stand no chance against ten of us. - What do you have us surrounded for, anyway? - Jon asked. - The King was killed sometime ago; he was found lying in the Throne Room with this one's arrow - the Baratheon soldier pointed his finger at Ygritte - lodged in his neck. Throw down your weapons and surrender, and you will be treated fairly; resist your arrest, and I cannot guarantee for your welfare in that case - the man said. Jon looked at his girlfriend, dejectedly; she, in return, glanced at him with a slight frown, and gave him a short, almost unnoticeable, nod, threw her spear on the floor, and then she pulled her dagger out and threw it on the floor, next to the spear; Jon pulled Longclaw out of the scabbard and threw it down, next to Ygritte's weapons, and then they raised their hands in surrender...

************

My Lord, Jon and Ygritte have been arrested, by the order of the Queen - Jory informed Ned when he returned to his solar, later that night. - What?!?! - Ned could not believe what he was hearing - on what charges? - It seems that Ygritte killed the King; they found him lying on the floor of the Throne Room with one of her arrows buried deeply in his neck. - And what do you believe about the whole matter, Jory? - Ned asked. - I don't know, My Lord - Jory replied in earnest, shaking his head in slight disbelief... - Ygritte would have never had done it, I think - Ned replied - she has a Wildling blood in her, but she is loyal to my sister's son from the wedlock with the Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, and she loves him, and he her... No, this must be the Queen's plot, she feel that Jon and Ygritte humiliated her and her oldest son Joffrey, back when we traveled The Neck, and she looks for the way to have her personal retribution against us, because we made a great blow to her pride - Ned sighed in exasperation...


	12. The Trial

Ned walked into the Throne Room in the mid-morning the next day, armed, followed closely by Jory, Alyn, Desmond and Porther; upon entering, his gaze fell on Cersei, sitting on the Throne, with a self satisfied smirk on her lips; Jon stood on the left of the Throne, Ygritte on the right; their wrists were manacled, and they were disarmed, each one of them having two Lannister soldiers and one Baratheon soldier training the tips of their spears on them; looking around the Throne Room, Ned saw the faces of ser Meryn Trant, ser Boros Blount, ser Mandon Moore, ser Barristan Selmy, Janos Slynt, Sandor 'The Hound' Clegane... _**Fokk ljón tík**_ (Fucking lion bitch) - Ned muttered a curse in the language of the First Men, walking towards the Throne with a hateful glare aimed at Cersei... - What is the meaning of this? - he snapped, deciding not to show any amount of civility or courtesy to the southern she-lion - why are my adopted son and his lover kept here like a pair of common criminals? - You would do well to mind your tone when speaking with me, lord Stark - Cersei spoke softly, but her smirk fell from her lips, turning into a disapproving, downturned expression on her lips - this wildling whore lover of your bastard killed the king with one of her arrows, so I ordered them both to be arrested, to answer for their crimes. - What are those crimes? - Ned asked firmly, catching a glimpse of Littlefinger's smirk with the corner of his eye, and he realized immediately who was the real culprit to be blamed for Robert's murder... - Your bastard and his bitch had the audacity to draw their weapons on my darling Joffrey and to raise their hands on him; nobody lays their hands on my firstborn son and goes away unpunished - Cersei replied. - Your son started it all first - Ned said - he provoked my younger daughter while she was practicing sword moves with a blade that my adopted son gifted her. - This court does not want to hear your lies, lord Stark - Cersei admonished him - you Northern savages train even your female children to handle weapons; it is not fitting for a lady to be taught such things. - Well then, it is a good thing then that my Arya does not want to be a lady - Ned said with a slight smirk - and we may be savages in the eyes of the Southerners, your Grace, but atleast we in the North have one thing that you Lannisters seriously lack, and that thing is honor. Tell me, your Grace - Ned accentuated the royal title in a mocking, disparaging way - what would the High Septon of your Seven told if he knew you participate in the incestuous sexual practices with your brother? - at that, an excited murmur broke out in the Throne Room... - Silence! - Cersei screamed loudly, and then she glared at Ned. - You dare speak such slander against me, lord Stark? - she asked. - The truth is never a slander, your Grace - Ned replied coldly - release Jon and Ygritte, give them their weapons back and let them go free, or your father will receive a raven from me, sent to Casterly Rock. - The Hound separated from the throng of people and took his place a bit behind Ned, unsheathing one of his swords, the one in the scabbard on his left hip; he had another on in the scabbard across his back, a larger two handed sword whose hilt peeked above his right shoulder, and ser Barristan was next... - I'll stand by your side, lord Stark - ser Barristan said. - Aye - the Hound nodded - you will need trained swordsmen with you, wolf lord... - he said. - Release the prisoners - Cersei sighed in defeat, knowing the sword skill of ser Barristan and the Hound's disregard for the rules of knighthood; he fought like a barbarian when he faced his enemies, and considering that the Lannisters were his enemies now... Jon and Ygritte had their shackles removed and their weapons were given back to him... - Lord Baelish - Ned addressed Littlefinger. - Yes, my Lord? - the small, weasel faced man asked a bit hesitatingly. - If you have an ounce of honor in you, you will now honestly admit how you killed Robert with an arrow through the neck after you stole Ygritte's bow and the aforementioned arrow from the bedchambers that she and Jon reside in here in King's Landing... - Littlefinger paled like a corpse after hearing that. - H-how do you know that, my L-Lord? - he stuttered. - I was informed by somebody about your deeds, lord Baelish - Ned replied coldly, his smirk replaced by a frown once again. - Seize him - Cersei ordered, looking at Littlefinger, and ser Meryn and two Lannister men had their swords trained on him in an instant; Ned reached with his right hand to his surcoat and unpinned the Hand badge from his left breast, tossing it into ser Boros' hands... - With Robert's death, my service as the Hand of the King is over. I ask for the permission to go back to the North - Ned told Cersei, looking her straight in the eyes, unblinking. - You have it, lord Stark - Cersei replied, feeling defeated. Ned bowed, turned his back on her and left the Throne Room; Jon, Ygritte, Jory, Alyn, Desmond, Porther, the Hound and ser Barristan went after him... They rode through the Mud Gate two hours later, with the rest of the Stark entourage and Gendry, for whom Ned asked to be released from Tobho Mott's service and the blacksmith readily agreed, after Ned explained to him that Mikken, the blacksmith in Winterfell, is an old man and that he could do well with a strong apprentice such as the late king Robert's baseborn son...


	13. Troubles on the Road

The entourage trudged slowly on the Kingsroad, en route to the North, because of the carriage that Sansa, Arya and Gendry were sitting in; ser Barristan, the Hound. Alyn and Porther rode their horses behind for safety, Lady, Nymeria and Ghost walking behind the four riders, while Ned, Jon, Ygritte, Jory and Desmond rode in front of the carriage... They moved at a casual pace for a couple of hours, and another pair of carriages joined their group soon; first carriage was an open one, like the one that Sansa, Arya and Gendry transported by, and it held two boys, one was skinny and fairhaired, the other one had dark hair and was fat; another carriage had bars on it, and it held three men, one had long, dark red hair with streak of white and was fairly handsome, the other one was missing a nose and was bald, he hissed and spat constantly, and the third one was fat, had long dark hair, reaching his shoulders, and he was scowling all the time; there was also a brother of the Night's Watch, an older dark haired man with unkempt short beard, named Yoren, and he introduced the hissing man as Biter, the scowling fat one's name was Rorge, and the handsome one with long red-and-white hair was Jaqen H'ghar... They rode together for another hour, and then they stopped and made a quick, improvised camp in the forest a bit off the road; Arya and Gendry jumped off the carriage to go and look for some twigs for the firewood, and Ygritte jumped down from the saddle of her horse and followed after them, despite knowing that Gendry was strong, she decided that it wouldn't hurt to have an extra pair of eyes watching over her...

************

After she and Gendry finished gathering the wood for the fire, Arya walked back to the encampment behind him, but when she walked by the barred carriage, a hand grabbed the back of her coarse brown tunic, pulling her closer to the carriage and making her drop the firewood in surprise; it was Biter who grabbed her, and he hissed in her face and shook her roughly; a moment later he snarled in anger and let Arya go; an arrow was sticking out from his thigh... - You hurt my friend, bitch! - Rorge hissed at Ygritte, who appeared at that moment, holding her bow - you better hope I don't get myself free, or I'll fuck you bloody with a stick! - You can try, ya fat stinkin' pig - Ygritte sneered contemptuosly at him - better men than ya tried t' do that t' me beyond the Wall, in the real North, and better men than ya fell t' the blade o' me dagger for their attempts t' rape me, so I'm not afraid o' ya, sheep fucker! - Come 'ere, you Wildling bitch! - Rorge shouted, enraged, but she just walked over, spat in his face and left... Now, where has Arya gone off to?, Ygritte looked around herself, and she saw Arya thrown to the ground by the fat, dark haired boy from another carriage... - I said that you give me that sword! - she heard the fat boy yelling at Arya when she came closer; Arya stood up and pulled the Needle from her belt, putting the tip of its blade under the fat boy's chin; Ygritte smirked in approval with the corner of her mouth; she did well when she decided to get to know Arya a bit better, because the younger girl was fearless when it came to certain things... She decided to go back to the main part of the camp, because Arya clearly didn't need her help in this case. - You should not have been coming closer to those three - Gendry admonished Arya, indicating with his head towards the barred carriage where Rorge, Biter and Jaqen were locked up... - They don't scare me - Arya shrugged - I can defend myself, and besides, I have my father, my brother Jon and my friend and his lover Ygritte to help me if I cannot defend on my own. - Yeah, well, they scare me - Gendry replied, glancing in the direction of the barred carriage once more for a few seconds... 


	14. Night Ambush

Ygritte and Jon were holding the guard that night, while the rest of the encampment was fast asleep; Jon left for a few moments to take a piss an hour later, and Ygritte pulled an arrow from her quiver and put it on her bow. All of a sudden she heard the rustling of shrubbery behind her and turned, thinking that it was Jon, losing his path in the darkness and coming out of the bushes from another direction after relieving himself, but it wasn't Jon; instead, she saw a small man in dark red leather tunic and with a Lannister helmet, holding a sword; she fired an arrow but the man evaded it quickly, and then another one appeared, this one was huge, he had a thick dark beard and was wearing Lannister armor... - Attack! Wake up! We're under attack! - she yelled, pulling her dagger from the sheath and throwing her bow to the ground so that it does not hinder her movements during battle; the small man swung his sword at her, and she tried to block, but he knocked the dagger out of her hand, disarming her, and then the giant backhanded her with his fist, knocking her unconscious... Arya, Gendry and the others had not had a chance to move after they woke up when Ygritte screamed to alert them, because a dozen men wearing Lannister armors and helmets ran out of the forest, putting a tip of each one's sword blade on their throats... Jon walked out of the shrubbery a few moments later, and he cursed silently when he saw the others rounded up, disarmed and shackled, Ygritte knocked unconscious and placed on the carriage; the gigantic man picked up Longclaw from where it was leaning against the tree, and tossed it to the smaller man, Polliver... - Nice little blade - Polliver commented sarcastically - I always wanted myself a real Valyrian steel sword... And maybe I'll pick my teeth with this one - he said, glancing at Needle after he pulled it out from Arya's belt...


	15. The Captives of Harrenhal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned, Jon, Ygritte, Arya, Gendry and the others were ambushed and taken prisoners...

They marched for the rest of the night, and at dawn they saw the dark ruins of the stone holdfast in front of them... - Harrenhal - Arya commented quietly; Hot Pie, as the fat dark haired boy was called, looked in fear at the charred rundown tower and felt something warm and smelly running down his left leg, soaking his breeches; the straw haired boy named Lommy turned his eyes towards the ground, and then Gendry followed his example as well... They were all pushed inside a roughly erected wooden fence on a small patch of land in the middle of the courtyard, like the were livestock and not human beings; Ygritte's unconscious form was lifted from the cart by the gigantic form of Gregor 'The Mountain' Clegane, who tossed her carelessly on the hard, rain soaked ground; looking at the prisoner's faces for a moment; when he caught his younger brother's angry stare, he smirked condescendingly, turned his back and left... Ygritte woke up sometimes in the early afternoon, and she saw the way the man named Tickler tortured the prisoners, questioning them about some Brotherhood without Banners, a group of outlaws hiding somewhere around here, as far as Ygritte was able to catch from their captors' hushed words, thanks to her sharp hearing; unfortunately, Polliver caught her looking and he walked over, nearing the fence and getting in her face... - What are you looking at?!? - he snapped - move your eyes away or I'll carve your eyes out, slut! - _**Biðjið að ég láti ekki lausa sig eða drepið þig með mér berar hendur, fjandans rassgat!**_ (Pray that I don't free meself or I'll kill you with me bare hands, you fucking asshole!) - she growled ferociously; Polliver was not a linguist, not understanding a word she said, the only thing he realized was that the savage bitch has had insulted him, and he backhanded her, breaking her lower lip and making it bleed; Ygritte spat a mix of blood and saliva in his face, and he swung his hand to slap her once more, but he stopped in half a motion... - Tickler will have his special fun with you when your turn comes to be interrogated, you savage Northern whore, I promise you that! You will tell us everything we want to know from any of you, and you will suffer unimaginably, so we'll see for how long will you be defiant and disobedient like this! - And with that, he turned his back on her and left the courtyard, walking a quick pace, fuming with anger; Ygritte smirked sarcastically, despite her broken lip and despite the burning of her cheeks, it'd take much more than some pathetic Southern kneeler backhanding her to break her spirit and take away her courage and defiance...


	16. Escape from Harrenhal

The rain fell heavy that night; it was three days since they were captured by the Lannister brigands, and Yoren was beheaded a day after their arrival, two days ago to be exact... The Hound, Ned and ser Barristan were sleeping hunched in one corner of the fenced area, Gendry, Lommy and Hot Pie in another, Ygritte and Arya in the middle; Ygritte had trouble sleeping, and she would hear Arya speaking certain names over and over again, always the same names; Cersei, Polliver, The Mountain, Tickler, Rorge, Biter... The next day, Polliver inspected them and he chose Jon to help the maker of saddles, Ygritte was picked to shovel the shit from the stables, and Arya was to be the cupbearer to lord Tywin; Jon and Arya left to do their designated duties, but Ygritte remained sitting down, pretending that she did not heard him... - Hey! - Polliver raised his voice - I'm talking to you, bitch! - Seeing that there was no reaction from Ygritte, Polliver opened the fence and got inside, walking over to her... - Are you soft in the head? - he asked - I said... - a rough hand grabbed his chin and lower jaw, while the other relieved him of his sword, stabbing him through the heart; the Hound tossed Polliver's sword to Ygritte, and she grabbed it and swung, cutting the throat of another Lannister soldier who came running, sword in hand; Gendry grabbed the dead soldier's sword and then he and Ygritte ran inside to look for Arya... They walked down the hall, and when they reached the end, they saw Tywin and the Mountain walking out from behind the door at the end of the hallway; they hid before the two men disappeared and then they ran inside... - Ygritte, Gendry! - Arya greeted them - what's happening? - We 'ave t' hurry - Ygritte said - we escape from 'ere... Come on! - Ygritte hurried the younger girl up, and Arya went after her and Gendry... They got in the courtyard, and Arya walked inside the fence area and crouched by Polliver's corpse, pulling the Needle out of his belt. Luckily, the rest of them found their weapons in the armory, and it didn't took long for them to rearm themselves; Ygritte felt complete when she felt her dagger in the sheath on her hip bouncing lightly against her thigh, her bow and quiver of arrows against her back... When they walked through, ser Barristan, Lommy and Hot Pie said their farewells to the rest of the group and they trudged off in another direction, each of the two boys gripping a sword they stole from Polliver and that other Lannister soldier, and ser Barristan having his own blade once again... Ned, The Hound, Jon, Ygritte, Arya and Gendry looked after the old knight and two boys for a few minutes before the three disappeared from their sight, and then they turned towards Northeast and walked off in the direction where Riverrun was, based on Ned's memory; his wife's family might take them in for a couple of days, although they could be vary of Jon and Gendry, considering that they were bastards, or of Ygritte, since she was a warrior girl of the Free Folk...


	17. The Farmhouse

The six travelers walked slowly till the Sun started to go down, which meant they traveled for five or six hours, being the early afternoon when they sneaked out of the emptied Harrenhal; it was nearing sundown when they saw a farmhouse nearby in front of them, they walked over and an old farmer greeted them, introducing himself and his daughter Sally... Ned explained him who they were and asked him if they could get a place to spend the night, and the farmer nodded shortly... They ate a stew that Sally made, it was rather watery, but it tasted good, more or less; the farmer and Sally prayed to the Seven, and Gendry joined them, since he hailed from King's Landing; Ned, Jon, Arya and Ygritte looked on in silence, being the worshippers of the Old Gods of the North, but when the prayer seemed to get stretched too long, the Hound grew a bit impatient... - Are you going to do all seven of the fuckers? - he grumbled half loudly; the corners of Ygritte's and Arya's mouths twitched in amusement, because the two girls found Sandor Clegane's sense of humor quite interesting...


	18. Meeting the Brotherhood

The six travelers left the farm late morning the next day, after the farmer went a few leagues to visit his neighbor and he came back with six horses he bought for a bag of 100 gold dragons Ned gave him... They rode for a few hours, and Ned wondered if Jory, Alyn, Desmond and Porther have brought Sansa safely back to Winterfell; they entered the forest slowly, getting down from the saddles and leading their horses by holding their reins... Ygritte had a strange feeling while they walked through the woods slowly, and in a move too quick to be followed by a naked eye, she pulled an arrow, notched and fired; the arrow flew for 100 yards and imbedded itself in the tree in which an archer stood, aiming at them; a young man with short dark hair and beard, dressed in a simple tunic, breeches, boots and leather jerkin; he was armed with a sword, bow and quiver of arrows; he jumped down from the branches and walked towards them, slowly, followed by an older man with receding brown-and-red shoulder length hair tied in a knot at the top and long unkempt beard; he was armed with two swords, one at his hip, the other at his back; his blue eyes were kind... - You are good - the younger man said, walking towards Ygritte - you have shot your arrow from a greater distance than I can hope to ever shoot from a bow... Who are you? - he asked curiously. - Ygritte, of the Free Folk - she replied. - Free Folk? - he asked in confusion. - The Wildlings from beyond the Wall - the older man said... - I'm Anguy, from Dorne - the younger man replied - this is Thoros of Myr, the Red Priest from Essos. - I am Eddard Stark, lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North - Ned introduced himself, and I have here with me my adopted son Jon Snow, my daughter Arya, Arya's friend Gendry, Jon's lover Ygritte and Sandor Clegane, the former sworn shield of the Lannisters. - Aye - Thoros nodded - The Hound. - Would you like to come with us? - Anguy asked. - Come where? - Jon asked - who are you, anyway? - You know nothing, Jon Snow - Ygritte looked at him - Anguy 'ere wants t' say that 'e and Thoros 'ave a hideout somewhere around 'ere. Right? - she looked back at Anguy. - Aye - he nodded, we have a hideout in the cave nearby. Come - he said, and then he and Thoros started leaving, followed by others; - Welcome to the hiding place of the Brotherhood Without Banners - Anguy told them when they entered into a small cave in the middle of the forest; it took the six of them a couple of hours to set up a bit of place to reside in, in a corner of the cave...


	19. Fight at The Twins

The small company of travelers spent a few days with the Brotherhood, and Ygritte took it upon herself to teach Anguy the way of shooting the arrows like it was done in the real North, while Jon would spar with Thoros and lord Beric Dondarrion when they would practice sword fight against one another; here and there Gendry had an occasional thought about staying with the Brotherhood, but Arya and Jon managed to talk him out of it... Finally, the day came to say farewell, and Ned, Arya, Jon, Ygritte, Gendry and The Hound got into the saddles and spurred their horses lightly, going into a slow trot... They were riding southeast, towards the Twins, and Ned mentioned that they should reach the towers by after the noon on the morrow...

************

They kept traveling with the first light of dawn, after a good night's sleep, and they arrived at the grass covered hill overlooking the Twins and the wooden bridge connecting the two strongholds an hour and a half after the middle of the day; they saw a large group of people on horsebacks crossing the bridge and entering the Twins, and Ned, Arya and Jon's eyes went wide when they saw Stark banners fluttering in the wind...

************

The small group slowly rode down the hill with the nearing of the sundown, after a few hours of rest, and they entered the courtyard and got down from the saddles a moment later. They walked inside and Ned saw Catelyn and Robb sitting at one of the tables, along with a few more people he knew, and there was a girl with exotic looks, black hair and slightly darker skin... - Father - Robb spoke - let me introduce you to my wife, lady Talisa Maegyr-Stark from Volantis. - It's a pleasure, lord Stark - Talisa replied, and Ned returned the greeting; Jon, Arya and Ygritte sat down, but they refused to give up their weapons, because Ygritte told them she had a hunch that something bad was going to happen... During the feast, Ygritte asked if they served fermented goat's milk and luckily they did, so Ygritte and Jon drank goat's milk during the feast, and the one they had in the cellars of the Twins was good, despite not being from the North... A few times, Ygritte glanced at the old man at the head of the table across from the one she and Jon sat at with narrowed eyes, because there was something about him that reminded her of Craster, although lord Walder Frey was a few decades older than the old daughter-fucker up North...

************  
The sound of the creaking double door of the great hall being closed made Ygritte glance warily behind her back; she wondered why would the doors be closed and barred with the wooden beam to prevent anyone from going out or entering the hall? Suddenly, an ominous music started playing, and Ygritte glanced around the Hall; something was amiss here, and, judging by the looks on the faces of Ned, Jon, Robb, Arya, Talisa and Catelyn, she was not the only one who thought so... She looked to her left and saw a man with a steel cap on his head pulling a dagger out of the folds of his tunic and walking towards Talisa... - _**Gættu þín!**_ (Look out!) - she yelled loudly in the language of the First Men, not caring if Talisa will understand her or not, and she grabbed an arrow from her quiver and fired, shooting Black Walder (as Robb told her that that was the man's name) straight into the heart; he fell down on his knees, slowly, the dagger falling from his hand, and he fell on the ground a moment later, face first and stopped moving altogether...

************

Jon unsheathed Longclaw, and cut the throat of one of the Frey men who got closer to him, while Ygritte saw the musicians on the balcony of the Frey hall pulling their crossbows out and aiming for Jon and Robb; she fired a couple of arrows in quick succession, killing the first two men, while The Hound and Gendry unsheathed their swords and they joined Jon and Ygritte in cutting down and shooting the Frey men who attacked them...

************

Lord Walder - Catelyn Stark arose from the bench she sat down on - how do you plead for tonight's attempt of a massacre upon my firstborn son and his wife, and all the people I hold dear? - Not guilty - old Frey replied with a sneer, his voice gravelly like an old harp unused for too long a time... - your son has promised to marry my daughter! - And you broke the guest right by trying to kill the people you took under your roof and offered them bread and salt - Ned said coldly, turning behind his back and looking at Ygritte, nodding shortly; she pulled an arrow, nocked it on the bow and fired; old Walder fell back in his chair, dying slowly with an arrow in his heart, while they turned their back on him and walked towards the door, lifting the beam and opening both sides, and, slowly, they walked out of the great hall full of young Frey men, sons and grandsons, lying dead on the floor...


	20. A Short Reunion

Rising with the first light of dawn, as it became more or less usual for the small group by now; after a good night's rest in the stables of the Twins, they got up slowly, one by one, washed their faces in the trough in the courtyard, and the Jon, Ygritte and Gendry each grabbed a small pile of chopped wood for the fire and they brought it in the Great Hall, throwing it to the floor, randomly... Ygritte found a flint and banged it against a piece of wood from the pile, and it caught the flame instantly; the fire started to burn slowly... Ygritte, Jon and Gendry turned and walked out, getting into the saddles and the six riders rode out of the Twins' courtyard as the conflagration started spreading around the Great Hall of Frey... - There is a small cart nearing - Jon said all of a sudden, going over to the courtyard entrance and looking around for a few moments - there are a few people riding in it... - he informed the rest; Ygritte unsheathed her dagger, and Jon, Gendry and Sandor pulled their swords... - Ned! - Catelyn addressed her husband when the cart came closer to the entrance a few minutes later; she drove in it along with Talisa, Robb and her uncle Brynden, 'The Blackfish', younger brother of her late father, lord Hoster; Ned glanced at his lady wife... - Where do you plan to go, now? - she asked - We are riding back North, Cat - he replied - Jon, Arya, Gendry, Ygritte and Sandor will go to Winterfell with me - he said. - Why don't you come to the Eyrie with us? It is much closer than Winterfell - she suggested. - And what about your sister, and her son? - Ned asked. - My sister would never deny me a favor if I asked her one, Ned - Catelyn replied a bit sharply - and Sansa is there as well, for the last several moons. - Why would she be there, instead of in Winterfell? - Ned asked, his eyes narrowing. - The word had had reached us in Riverrun, that Theon Greyjoy and a small band of Ironborn brigands have had taken Winterfell by force; Theon beheaded ser Rodrik after two of his men captured him when he returned from Torrhen's Square and his right hand man, Dagmer Cleftjaw, mortally wounded maester Luwin by stabbing him in the gut by the tip of his spear... - _**Eftir gömlu guði norðursins og skóginum! Fjandinn að Greyjoy og hans menn!**_ (By the Old Gods of the North and Forest! Fuck that Greyjoy and his men!) - Ygritte swore in her native tongue, paling in shock and anger. - What about Bran and Rickon? - Ned asked, feeling worried for his two youngest sons; the rest of the group exchanged worried glances at each other... - Theon took away two young sons of a local farmer and burned them alive, falsely introducing them as the corpses of Bran and Rickon to maester Luwin a few days ago before Cleftjaw killed him, to break the maester's will; luckily, the real Bran and Rickon escaped in the dead of night, when most of the Greyjoy guards were asleep, they were aided by Hodor and a woman named Osha, a spearwife like Ygritte here; ser Rodrick, Jory, Alyn and Porther caught Osha sneaking in the woods around Winterfell with a spear in her hand, preying upon the stag, and they took her with them, a few days before the takeover - Catelyn glanced at her husband's bastard's wild lover for a moment... - Who gave you that news? - Ned asked his wife. - I have received a letter from the Greywater Watch, signed by Howland Reed himself - Catelyn said; Ned just gave her a short, grim nod...


	21. Leaving the Twins behind

The small company rode away from the Twins rather quickly, turning southwest, towards the Vale of Arryn; Ned, Jon and Ygritte rode in front of the cart in which Arya now sat, along with her mother and one of her older brothers; Ned assured his younger daughter that she will be a bit more safer if she rode in the cart than if she was in the saddle; she agreed reluctantly, but she still kept the Needle with her, and they removed the saddle from her horse and put it in the cart with them, letting the horse wander freely around and munch on grass, since there were pastures around the Twins; Sandor and Gendry rode in the back of a small column...


	22. Fighting the Hill Tribes

The small column entered the Mountains of the Moon a few hours later, trudging slowly upwards, over a narrow goat path that led towards the Eyrie; Ygritte rode a few meters ahead of the rest of the group, acting as a scout, to survey over the surrounding area, in case of a possible peril awaiting any of them; she removed her bow off her back and held it in her right hand; all of a sudden, a tall man with long thick beard, dressed in furs and rusted chest plate, with a rusted iron helmet with a pair of horns turned downwards, jumped on her from behind the small cluster of rocks, with a loud, angry howl... - **_Helvítis fjandinn!_** (Fucking bastard!) - Ygritte swore, dropping her bow and punching his lower jaw with her fist, making him dazed for a second, which gave her enough time to unsheath her dagger and stab the man in his left side, unprotected by his rusted armor, her blade pierced his lung, and she pulled her dagger out of his wound, only to have it knocked out of her hand when the man swung at her with his fist, howling in anger as well as pain, this time... - Shagga, son of Dolf will kill the redhead girl before he dies! - the man growled, his hand grabbing Ygritte's neck and squeezing hardly; Ygritte gasped, feeling like her windpipe was being crushed by Shagga's hand, when the blade swung in an arc, removing Shagga's head off his shoulders... The grip on her throat gone, Ygritte laid on the ground for a few moments, swallowing lungfuls of air, and then she got up, picking her dagger and bow up from the ground, and she ran after The Hound, who saved her from Shagga, and they both joined back the fray; back at the group, Ned, Jon and Gendry swung their swords at the fur-and-armor clad savages, knocking a few of them down, when the horn sounded, and a group of knights mounted on horses arrived out of the blue, the rider in the front carried a shaft on which was a banner depicting a white falcon and crescent moon on a dark blue background; the sigil of House Arryn; the knights ran down on the few tribesmen, attacking them from the other side, and the tribesmen dispersed and ran away to their hideouts in the manner of seconds, except one of them, a man some two tenths of years younger than Shagga; he would have had been a bit handsome if his face hadn't had a small scowl on it the whole time, his dark beard was thick and long, reaching to his chest, and he had a bloody, ugly scar in the place of his left eye; on his head he carried a sheep skull helmet with a nose guard... The knight who carried the banner gave it to the rider on his left, and then he got down from the saddle, lifted the visor of his helmet which covered the lower part of his face, leaving just his eyes visible in the way he usually wore it, and it revealed a rather dashing face of a knight in his early thirties, with a neatly trimmed dark beard; he introduced himself as ser Vardis Egen, captain of the guard of lady Lysa Arryn, glancing at the portly man with a chestplate, armed with a long sword as well, just as ser Vardis was; Egen introduced the older man as lord Yohn Royce, usually known as Bronze Yohn, and than the older man got down from the saddle of his horse as well; ser Vardis and Bronze Yohn walked over to the young hill tribesman whom they captured, and the two knights grabbed him roughly by his arms and lifting him to his feet; Royce relieved the savage man of his sword, while Ygritte walked over to where his wooden club lay on the ground, lifted it and shove it into ser Vardis' hand - 'E was carryin' tha' as well - she spoke softly in her Northern accent, turned and left back, to the group, standing near Jon... - What's your name? - Bronze Yohn asked the captured savage; he remained quiet until Royce drew his sword and got the tip of the blade to the man's one good eye left; his right... - Timett, son of Timett, of the Burned Men - he replied defiantly... - And why did you and... - Royce glanced at the decapitated corpse of an older man in furs and rusted chest armor; his head, still having his horned helmet on, lay nearby; they have just now saw a pair of axes crossed at his back, in addition to a wooden club at his belt. - 'E said 'is name was Shagga, son o' Dolf, a few moments before The 'ound 'ere beheaded 'im - Ygritte said. - What clan was he from? - ser Vardis asked Timmet... - Stone Crows - the leader of the Burned Men replied after a few moments. - Tie him up and leave him near the dead body of Shagga, son of Dolf - ser Vardis commanded Bronze Yohn - let the shadow cats take care of those two. - Bronze Yohn nodded and took Timett away from the group, taking the bundle of rope that Robb pulled out of the cart... He came back a minute or two later, and then the riders got back into the saddles of their horses, and they followed ser Vardis and Bronze Yohn further upwards, trudging as slowly as before, casting an occasional glance here and there as they rode on, high above their heads towards the castle on the top of the mountain, some 400 or 500 feet above the grounds of the Vale... 


	23. A Short Meeting

Upon reaching the bottom of the mountain upon which the castle of Eyrie lay at its top, Ned and the few people he chose for his group, namely Catelyn, Arya, Jon, Ygritte and The Hound, boarded the supplies elevator, joined by ser Vardis and Bronze Yohn Royce, and the servants started to turn the winches upwards, slowly... The travel to the top took them 7-8 hours, and while they climbed, Jon felt Ygritte getting her body closer to his, her hands desperately gripping his shoulders; had he not have been as afraid as she was, Jon would have had joked with his lover in a good nature... It was later in the morn when they started climbing; mid-after the noon, nearing onto the late, when their going up was finished... Led by ser Vardis in the front and Bronze Yohn in the back, the small group climbed up the steep pathway and they found themselves in front of the Castle Arryn; ser Vardis and Royce opened the double doors and led the others inside...

************

What is the meaning of this, my dear sister? - Lysa Arryn threw an accusing glance at Catelyn after the group walked inside, sitting on her weirwood throne, her son Robin, a boy of three-and-ten years old, breastfeeding on her - you have started bringing the Northern savages into my household? - her eyes glared at Ygritte for a few moments, and then Ned took a step forward. - Lady Arryn - he spoke, politely but firmly - Ygritte is a member of my household, a spearwife of the Free Folk and my family's personal guard, as well as the lover of my adopted son Jon Snow, a true born son of my late sister Lyanna and the late Crown Prince Rhaegar of House Targaryen... - At that, many gasps and hushed murmurs broke out between the people gathered. - Silence! - Lysa snapped at the few of the whisperers - go on, lord Stark - she spoke more softly. - All that I ask is that you show her a little bit of respect you would usually show to anyone from my household; houses of Stark and Arryn have always had been in good relations, if I recall correctly - Ned said. - You do, lord Stark - Lysa nodded shortly and instructed ser Vardis to find fitting bedchambers for her and her son's honorable guests; as they were walking out of the throne room, Ygritte spotted a small, weasel faced man with a goatee standing a bit behind the throne, half obscured by its shadows; she narrowed her eyes at him, dangerously, and he gave her a mocking and slightly provocative smirk in return... 


	24. Littlefinger's Fatal Mistake

It was the near evening of another day since they came to the Eyrie, and Ygritte was alone in the bedchambers that she and Jon shared with his sisters; she removed the worn leather belt with her sheathed dagger and put it in the corner with her bow and quiver of arrows; Jon's sword belt with Longclaw and his dagger rested in the opposite corner; she heard the door opening behind her, and a hand gripped her left shoulder in the next moment, while she felt a cold blade touching her neck... - How good of you to join us here, my dear wild girl - she heard a sleazy voice talking, and she shivered involuntarily, being careful so that the slick, weaselly man behind her does not notice that she was afraid at that very moment... - You know, I'm disappointed a bit - he said - I was hoping to find both you and your bastard of a lover here, so that I could get rid of two unpleasant witnesses at once, but it seems you will have to suffice for now, my dear - he removed the blade of the dagger from Ygritte's throat and, before she even had the chance to react, he turned her face first towards him and fiercely crashed her lips with his; Ygritte bit his lower lip with her teeth a moment later, and he yelled in pain, moving away hastily, blind with pain... - Fucking savage bitch! - he swung his hand as if he was going to backhand her, but she grabbed his left arm and broke it; he swung the dagger he held with his right hand, but Ygritte swung her fist, knocking the dagger out of his hand; ser Vardis and Bronze Yohn appeared behind him with their swords unsheathed, and they grabbed him by his upper arms, not paying a bit of attention to the fact that his left arm was broken below the elbow, and they dragged him away, forcefully, while he struggled in vain against their stronger hands gripping him... 

************

The throne room was full of people the next day on the late morn; Lysa sat on her weirwod throne with her son Robin on the left, a bit below her; across the throne, in two columns on the left and right side of the double doors that led inside, stood Ned, Catelyn, Arya, Sansa, Robb, Jon, Ygritte, Gendry, The Hound and ser Lyn Corbray, a brash and haughty young knight from lady Lysa's court; the door opened in the next moment and ser Vardis and Bronze Yohn walked inside, flanking Littlefinger, who had his wrists manacled... - Lord Petyr Baelish of the Fingers - Lysa spoke coldly and authoritatively - you are brought here, before me, under charges of a rape attempt of a Free Folk spearwife named Ygritte, a body guard sworn to House Stark of Winterfell in the North. Do you deny those accusations against you? - I deny it! - Littlefinger yelled in defiance - none of you were there, to see what happened! - May I speak, my lady? - Jon asked, looking at Lysa. - Yes, you may - she nodded shortly - Jon, Prince of Houses Stark of Winterfell and Targaryen of Dragonstone. - Jon bowed shortly and took a step forward. - My lover and future wife does not lie, lord Baelish - Jon said to the weasel faced deceiver - if she says that you tried to rape her in the chambers I share with her and my sisters, that is most likely the truth, then - he finished, coldly. - Cat... - Littlefinger fell onto his knees in a false display of humility and submission, his eyes getting wet with tears - you know I have loved you my whole life - he sobbed. - Love?!? - Catelyn scoffed derisively. - You little worm! - she shouted furiously - do you take me for some back alley Sally to be used at your whim? Me and my daughter, and now even Ygritte! She may be a savage from the far North but she has more of a thing called honor in her smallest finger than you have in your whole body! Whatever fate befalls you today, I won't feel sorry for you, and neither will my oldest daughter! You can do with him as you like - Catelyn looked at her sister and nodded; Lysa turned her sharp glance onto the people in her court. - What would you like me to do with this... man here? - she asked, spitting out the word _**man**_ like it was some foul poison in her body. The loud cries of _**Moon Door! Moon Door!**_ were the answer enough for Lysa, and she waved her hand at ser Vardis and Bronze Yohn; the two men unsheathed their swords and walked closer to Littlefinger, and they started hacking at him and stabbing him with their bladed, while the servants in the back turned the wheel mechanism to open the Moon Door, a double sided hole in the floor that pulled the doors in and pushed them back out when it was not needed for the 'door' to be opened, when there was no punishments for any kind of wrongdoers... Ser Vardis and Bronze Yohn finished butchering Littlefinger with their swords and the whole court watched with satisfaction as his mangled and bloodied body tumbled through the hole, falling to the depths of a fog shrouded mountain tops far below underneath the floor of the throne room...


	25. The Ride to Greywater

The group left the Eyrie at the first hour after the noon the next day; now, the way that lay ahead of them led them northeast for the oncoming day-and-a-half, until they reach the Greywater Watch, where Ned's good friend Howland Reed, the crannogman, lived with his children, Jojen and Meera... Usually, it took a traveler 4-5 days to ride from the Vale to the Neck, where the Greywater Watch was located in the swamp area of the North, but Ned and the others planned to take their step up a bit faster, so that they are all back North as soon as possible, although they would probably need to look to place themselves somewhere else, and not in Winterfell, since the news brought by the raven short of a time before they left the Vale of Arryn told them that Ramsay Snow, Roose Bolton's bastard son, has had occupied their home after catching the Ironborn that previously held the castle, and he now had Theon Greyjoy as his hostage, and he tortured him on a daily occasion... 

************

Ned's horse trotted along the swamp laden road, in a half-fast pace, followed closely behind by Jon and Ygritte; they have rode inside the area of The Neck an hour ago, when a lizard lion jumped out of a thick shrubbery near the water, right in front of the horses that Jon and Ygritte rode; Ygritte's horse neighed in fear and pranced on its hind legs, kicking its front hooves in the attempt to chase the aquatic predator away, but in vain; the lizard lion fasted up on them, now scaring even Jon's and Ned's horses, who also reacted as Ygritte's horse a few moments ago... - Ah! - Ygritte lost control over her horse, since it pranced on its rear legs in fear, her hand let go of the reins and she fell from the saddle, lightly hitting the back of her head on the small rock that lay on the ground... - Ygritte! - Jon yelled in panic, jumping down from his saddle and unsheathing Longclaw, just as the lizard lion advanced towards Ygritte's unconscious form; Jon started swinging his blade at the carnivore, trying to chase him away from his lover's prone form; Robb jumped down from the cart he drove in with his mother and his sisters, and he also unsheathed his sword and started swinging the blade at the creature, The Hound and Gendry joined them a moment later; deciding that the four grown men with swords in their hands were a bit too much of a bite for it to chew, the lizard lion snapped its jaws at them once more and then it turned its back on them and slowly crawled away back into the bushes, going back into the water... Robb! - Jon called for his half brother, putting Longclaw back into the scabbard - grab Ygritte by her ankles; we will have to lift her up from the ground, slowly, and place her on the cart. - Robb nodded, walking over and he did as Jon instructed him, while his bastard half brother grabbed his Free Folk-born girlfriend under her arms and they slowly lifted her off the ground, and gently placed her in the middle of the cart; Catelyn and Sansa were now sitting on her left, Arya and Talisa on her right; Talisa touched the back of Ygritte's head, but it was not bleeding, luckily, although there still was a slight chance that Ygritte was going to have a mild concussion when she wakes up. Robb got into the saddle of her horse, temporarily, and they continued the last part of their trip, at an extra slow pace, because of the many small rocks here and there on the pathway before them; if the wheels on the cart hit into any of those, the cart would bump, and that bumping could make Ygritte's condition worse, they thought; Ned know not how much it would need them to finally reach Greywater, going the slow pace they went on. In a normal situation, they would have had not needed more than an hour to arrive, but in these conditions, he thought... Luckily, they had a half emptied canteen of fresh water in the cart, and a few pieces of cloth, so either Sansa or Arya would wipe off tiny beads of sweat from Ygritte's forehead with a damp cloth when her brow became wet here and there; her breathing was shallow from time to time, but would resumed its normal rhythm a few moments later; frankly, it did not looked like to any of them that Ygritte was in a life threatening situation, but they all decided to keep an extra eye on her, every one of them traveling with her, at their given moments just in case, they would change between themselves every hour; Sansa, for example, volunteered first, and Gendry was to replace her after her watch hour ended...


	26. Tying the Bonds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ygritte wakes up after a few days, and she and Jon decide to become a legitimate couple...

The group stayed at the Greywater for a few days, and Ygritte was cared for by Talisa, for the most time, because Talisa became a healer back in Volantis, before she moved overseas to Westeros; however, there was not much that even she was able to do for the young wildling-born guard of House Stark, since Ygritte was still unconscious... The only thing Talisa could do was to dab Ygritte's forehead with a damp cloth whenever she had drops of sweat on her forehead. In the chambers next to the one in which the Volantene girl cared for the spearwife of Winterfell, Jon Snow was beside himself with worry, thinking about the girl he was in love with; _**What if she dies while being in her unconscious state?**_ was the thought that resided in his mind most of the time... Robb, Sansa and Arya were there with him, just so that he would not be alone in his anguish...

************

Ygritte's eyelids fluttered slowly, almost unnoticeably, a few times on the sundown of the other day of their time in the swamp area of the Neck, which meant that two-and-a-half days have had passed since she fell out of the saddle when a lizard lion frightened her horse; she tried to lift her head slowly, but the whole room started spinning before her eyes, so she lowered her head back onto a coarse pillow with a sigh... Talisa entered the chambers a few minutes later, and a light smile lit her lips when she saw that Ygritte was awake. - How do you feel? - she asked the wild girl gently. - Ugh! - Ygritte moaned slightly - I'm stiff from lying - she admitted, closing her eyes once again for a few moments... - No surprise there - Talisa said gently - you were unconscious for two-and-a-half days. - Ygritte's eyes were slightly wide when she heard that... She spent the remainder of the day resting; it was the mid of day after the noon when she woke up from her unconsciousness, and Jon and Arya were allowed to see her for a short time in the early hours of the night...

************

Ygritte awoke in the late hours of the next morn, feeling well rested and strong; Talisa brought her a bite to eat and a cup of wine to drink, and Ygritte broke her fast slowly, as per Talisa's instructions, the Volantene girl advised her not too eat and drink too fast or she was going to lose her meal, because there could still be the chance that her stomach would react to the condition she was in for the past couple of days, and Ygritte heeded Talisa's advice... As the latter part of the day after the noon neared by, Ygritte, her strength now regained, stood opposite Jon in front of the weirwood tree near the Watch; the two young people faced each other, surrounded by Ned, Catelyn, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon, The Hound, Gendry, Howland Reed and his children in a half circle... - By the Old Gods of The Forest and The North - Jon began speaking - I am hers... - And he is mine, from this day... - Ygritte said - ...until the rest of our days. I love you, Ygritte, daughter of Tormund Giantsbane, born among the Free Folk in the real North beyond the Wall. - And I love you, Jon of houses Targaryen of Dragonstone and Stark of Winterfell, son of crown prince Rhaegar and lady Lyanna, born with the surname Sand in the Tower of Joy in Dorne, but raised as a Snow in the North, south of the Wall, until the moment you were acknowledged by a true born Stark and Targaryen by your mother's side of the family. - I was raised a Stark, I will be Jon Stark from this moment on, and you will be my wife, Free Folk Princess Ygritte Stark of Winterfell, as will be your title of honor... - Their lips crashed together in the next moment; the kiss they shared was full of love and mutual respect towards each other between them... Hail Prince Jon Stark and his wife, Honorary Princess Ygritte Stark! - Ned took the call, and the rest of the people gathered near him followed, yelling _**Hail Jon and Ygritte Stark!**_ , while the young Northern newlywed couple kept kissing for a few more moments, seemingly oblivious of the people surrounding them...


	27. Arrival to The Wall

The travelers left early on the following morn, after saying their farewells to Howland, Jojen and Meera; they now had a few days of riding farther up North, to Castle Black, headquarters and stronghold of the Night's Watch; Ygritte was a bit vary when she heard Ned and Jon mentioning it, slightly concerned that the crows will see her just as a wildling whore who made one of their brothers broke his oath, but Jon assured her that he will defend her honor in case anybody begins to insult her; she was his wife now and woe betide anyone who speaks against her and talks about her in slanderous ways... Ygritte felt more at ease after his words, and they gave each other small smiles filled with love. Their travel further to the North was uneventful, because they avoided coming into vicinity of Winterfell and Dreadfort as well, avoiding both castles widely, and on the late morn of the fifth day of traveling they saw the Wall in all of its 700 feet height glistening in the winter Sun, and tiny looking Castle Black below...

******** 

The travelers saw the banners with a black head of a crowned stage inside a flaming heart fluttering in the cold wind above the main gate of Castle Black, on both sides, and Ned asked a guard outside whose sigil that was... The man replied that that was a sigil of Stannis Baratheon, The One True King of the Seven Kingdoms, Azor Ahai or The Prince That Was Promised, The Chosen Warrior of The Red God, R'hllor, the Lord of Light... Ned frowned slightly upon hearing the last part, and so did a few of the people who rode behind him, but he decided not to comment on that for the time being; the guard opened the door for them and so Ned Stark and his small entourage slowly rode inside the training courtyard of Castle Black...


	28. Grim News

The small entourage spent a couple of days at Castle Black, trying to avoid the ever aggravated ser Alliser Thorne as much as it was possible, but they couldn't avoid the Targaryen loyalist in the time of Rebellion almost 21 years ago all the time; sometimes, his mocking remark would have grated on Ned's, Jon's or Ygritte's nerves, but they could not react, because nobody at Castle Black knew who Jon truly was, so if any of them reacted, Ned and Jon were both sure that Thorne could manage for them and Ygritte to be thrown into the ice cells... During their short time there, Jon befriended a recruit from the Reach, a fat boy named Samwell Tarly, oldest son of Lord Randyll Tarly of Horn Hill, and it turned out that Sam had a Free Folk lover as well, a girl named Gilly, one of Craster's daughter-wives, who bore a son, a boy they named Little Sam... Despite them being fresh friends, Sam told Jon about a Wildling-um... Free Folk attack attempt, Sam corrected himself after Ygritte glared at him harshly; she may have had been raised in the Stark household for the past almost 21 years, but Ned told her stories about the Free Folk' customs and their way of life, how they lived in their camps and settlements beyond the Wall when they were not attacking Castle Black on occasion when the Watch barred them entrance to try and settle themselves on the other side of the Wall... Back on the matter at hand, Sam told Jon, Ygritte and Ned how a thousand of the Free Folk attacked the Wall, they had Thenns, giants and mammoths by their side, but they still lost the battle and a few of them survived and were captured and locked up, one of them being a red haired bearded man named Tormund, Ygritte's eyes went wide at the mention of her father's name... - I'd like t' see 'im - she spoke slowly, glancing at Sam, almost pleadingly... - Um - Sam stuttered - I'm not sure if that would be possible. I fear that ser Alliser won't allow it... - Please - Ygritte whispered, tears glistening in her eyes. - Oh, all right - Sam huffed awkwardly - follow me, please - he got up and went towards the door, Ygritte behind him. Sam led her to the bedchamber of one of the few recruits who fell in battle, Pyp, and Tormund sat there on the floor, his wrists ad ankles shackled with iron manacles... - Father - Ygritte spoke when she entered, Sam standing behind her. - Ygritte? - he spoke slowly, a small smile on his lips; Ygritte nodded, smiling as well, although tears now ran, unhindered, down her cheeks; she walked over to him, kneeled and in the next moment she hugged her father strongly, buried her face in his furs and sobbed loudly. Tormund reached with his shackled left hand as much as he could and started rubbing her back comfortingly. - Let me 'ave a good look a' ya - he said after his daughter calmed herself down after having a good, liberating cry - Gods, you grew up into such a beautiful and wild girl - he murmured - 'ow did yer life been at Winterfell? - It's good - Ygritte replied, nodding slowly - 'ow did ya get captured like tha'? - she asked. - Tis a long story - he replied - and the one tha' I should not be telling now. Ygritte nodded, got up and asked Sam to take her back to former Lord Commander Jeor Mormont's solar, where Jon and Ned were, Sam nodded and she followed him outside...


	29. The Execution

It was now the early night of their last day at Castle Black, and Ned and Jon had a short discussion with Stannis and his Hand, ser Davos Seaworth, The Onion Knight; they talked about what to do with the few imprisoned Free Folk who survived their failed attack on the Wall. Ned offered to Stannis that he would try to have Tormund liberated and for him to travel with them and to be rejoined with his daughter, whom he raised since the time she was a babe; Stannis nodded thoughtfully... They all gathered in the courtyard of Castle Black an hour later and then two Stannis' men brought Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall, into the courtyard, his wrists shackled at his back and they made him climb the steps up onto the pile of firewood, forcing him to raise his arms and attaching the chain of his manacles to an iron hoop hooked onto the upper part of a wooden pole as long as an average grown man was tall... A woman dressed in red, with a dark red hair, walked down the stairs from the balcony she stood on, above the courtyard, carrying a lit branch in her right hand, and she brought its tip up to a pile of wood; the wood caught fire immediately, but Mance Rayder just stared in front of himself, stubbornly, not letting a sound out of himself, not even the slightest whimper, even when the flames grew and started licking at his body, hungrily... - Oh! - Ygritte heard a terrified yelp from her right, and looked, her eyes narrowed dangerously; Gilly turned and buried her face into Sam's shoulder; her shoulder shook as she wept quietly... - Free Folk! - the woman in red spoke loudly - black brothers of the Night's Watch! Now you have seen the fate of those who choose darkness instead of light! Mance Rayder was a false king; here is your One True King, Stannis Baratheon, the chosen warrior of the One True God, R'hllor; Stannis is Azor Ahai, The Prince That Was Promised, the champion of the Lord of Light! - Bend your knees - Stannis stepped forward, with a frown on his face, as usual, his left arm on the hilt of his sword - kneel, and your lives will be spared; refuse, and you will join your false king - he indicated to a small pile of ashes, everything that remained of the once proud, free and living King-beyond-the-Wall... Ygritte got on one knee, slowly, hating herself so much while she did it, but she swore inside that she will not renounce the belief in the Old Gods of the Forest in favor of the Essosi fire god just because the fanatical whore in red demanded it; Tormund was the next one to kneel, but he swore the same thing as his daughter did, silently, and then the rest of the Free Folk bent their knees, swearing the same thing as Ygritte and Tormund; Ned, Jon and Arya did the same, they bent their knees, but they didn't renounced their beliefs, and soon the courtyard was filled with people who bent their knees, some of them accepting the faith of R'hllor as their own, the others refusing, silently...


	30. A Small Incident at the White Harbor

On the early morn the next day, sometime after dawn, a small group of riders gathered in the courtyard of Castle Black; Ned, Jon, Ygritte, The Hound, Robb, Arya, Gendry and Tormund. Catelyn, Talisa, Sansa, Bran and Rickon rode in the small cart behind them, and they were ready to ride to the White Harbor, to see whom the House Manderly pledged their allegiance to, now that Ramsay Bolton held Winterfell... The group arrived to White Harbor in the mid-hours after the noon, but a pair of guards armed with swords and tridents halted the group, crossing their spears... - What is the meaning of this? - Ned asked a bit angrily, riding a step forward - I am Eddard Stark, lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, and I ask to see your liege lord! - You would do well to mind your tone, lord Stark - one of the guards spoke coldly - last we heard, Ramsay Bolton is the Warden of the North now, so lord Manderly will not talk to usurpers and false pretenders such as yourself. Now be off and stop wasting our time - the guard spoke; Ned narrowed his eyes in anger and started turning the horse away from the main entrance, when an arrow whizzed by him, imbedding itself into the guard's neck; the man released the shaft of his trident and fell down, face first... - Ygritte! What?... - Jon yelled in shock, his eyes wide with surprise. - You know nothing, Jon Snow - she replied - when it doesn't go the nice way... - Jon nodded, curtly, understanding his wife's point of view; the other guard ran towards them, turning the tip of his three blades towards them, but he too fell on the ground a few moments later with Ygritte's arrow in his chest. Ned got down from the saddle, walked to the door and pushed it open, and then the entourage rode inside, slowly...


	31. Lord Manderly's Great Hall

Ned, Jon, Robb, Ygritte and Gendry walked inside lord Wyman's great hall five-and-ten minutes later, those among them armed with swords gripping the hilts, but not drawing them from the scabbards, while Ygritte removed her bow from her back; lord Wyman and his two sons, Wendel and Wylis, were just having their evening meal, and they munched greedily on roasted eels and octopus; the two brothers had swords at their sides and they jumped to their feet hastily, which was an endeavour in itself, considering that they both had had a fair bit of girth, just like their lord father, and they grabbed their tripods, turning the tips of their weapons towards the newcomers... - Lord Stark? - Manderly looked up from his meal, frowning at the people who stood in his hall - what is the meaning of this? - he asked, disapproval very clear in his tone... - Forgive me, lord Manderly - Ned bowed - I ask that you let me and my small entourage to spend a night or two in your esteemed household. - I see you have a wildling girl with you, lord Stark - Wyman said, narrowing his eyes at Ygritte, who glared coldly at the fat Northern nobleman in return... - Ygritte may have had been born among the Free Folk beyond the Wall and being one of them in her heart, but she is also a Stark, the wife of my adopted son and nephew Jon, born in Dorne as a Sand, but raised in Winterfell as a Snow, he in reality being Aegon, the Sixth of His Name, son of The Crown Prince, Rhaegar of House Targaryen, and my sister Lyanna - Ned said... - And who is this lad here? - lord Wyman asked when he glanced at Gendry - there is something about his looks that reminds me of the late king Robert. - His name is Gendry, and he is indeed the baseborn son of the late king - Ned replied. - All right, lord Stark - Manderly nodded - who else is in your entourage? - My lady wife Catelyn of house Tully, my other son Robb, my daughters Sansa and Arya, Robb's wife lady Talisa Maegyr Stark, of the Free City of Volantis in Essos, and Sandor Clegane, the Hound, a former sworn sword of lady Cersei of houses Lannister and Baratheon - Ned explained, and lord Manderly just gave him a short nod...


	32. The Queen's Arrival

The group spent about a week-and-a-half in the White Harbor as honored guests of lord Wyman, and on the early morn of their next-to-last day there, they heard the blowing of the horn coming from the open sea, and as they left the small seaside castle, a galley with two black colored sails with a red three headed dragon embroidered on them appeared in the sea, and then another, and another, and another... There were about a hundred-and-fifty ships, Ned and Jon counted quickly, and they were approaching the docks very fast, because sails caught the wind which blew harshly that day, its coldness seeping even into the bones of those who grew up in the far North; Ygritte shivered once or twice when a chilling gust of wind blew around her... The people gathered on the docks watched as the galleys began to drop their anchors and then a boat was lowered from the first ship, and the few people boarded it, but they were still a bit too far away for those gathered on the shore to recognize their faces... When the boat came a bit more than halfway closer to the shore, they saw a young woman with white blonde hair dressed in a heavy black coat, breeches and boots, almost as beautiful as Ygritte herself, Jon thought, casting a momentary glance at her; she had a dark skinned beauty with curly black hair with her as well as a small statured man with shoulder length blonde hair and thick beard, a scar on the right side of his face, and a dark skinned young man, dressed in a black tunic, breeches, boots and leather breastplate, armed with a dagger, spear and round shield; the boat came closer to the shore and the few people walked onto the shore, slowly... Ned took the white haired girl's gloved hand and kissed it, introducing himself and his entourage, and lord Wyman, who stood a bit aside with his sons, did the same. The dark skinned girl stepped forward and introduced the blonde woman as Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the true queen of the Seven Kingdoms etc., etc., and then she introduced herself as Missandei of Naath, the Queen's personal translator... While they were all breaking their fast an hour later, Jon talked about something to Ygritte, smiling at her, and so he missed the way that the dragon queen swallowed him with her eyes, but Ygritte didn't; she narrowed her eyes at the white haired dragon mistress and decided to confront her about it later, the first chance she gets, because not even the queen may dare to look in the direction of her Jon, Ygritte thought, thinking about how to put the Targaryen in her place and let her know that Jon is her man, not Dany's... Dany, however, was not the only one who stared at a taken man that night; Tyrion Lannister, the small statured man with long hair, beard and scar, would cast his glance in Ygritte's direction from time to time; the Hand of the Queen fell in love with the wild Northern flower, as he called her in his mind, almost immediately, and he decided to ask Jon later about what was the nature of the relationship he and Ygritte were sharing...


	33. Talking with the Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyrion informs Jon that Daenerys asked for his presence, alone, but Jon does not comply to the Queen's demand...

Jon - Tyrion addressed the former brother of the Watch - our Queen asked me to inform you that she wishes to speak to you, in private; just the two of you. - No - Jon shook his head - Ygritte and I will go together, she is my wife and we will not be separated, no matter who demands it - the former bastard frowned slightly, looking at the diminutive Lannister lord. - The Queen... - Tyrion began, but he was cut off by Ygritte in the next moment. - She's no' me queen - she said with her pronounced Northern accent - the Free Folk choose their own rulers, we don' bend our knees t' nobody. - And I stand by what Ygritte said - Jon replied a moment later, and Tyrion just sighed and refilled his cup of wine...

************

\- You asked for us, your Grace? - Jon asked upon entering Dany's bedchambers, closely followed by Ygritte. - I instructed Tyrion to inform you to come alone - the white haired girl stared sharply at Ygritte, who returned the glare, thrice as stronger... - I'm sorry, your Grace - Jon said - but where I go, Ygritte decides to go as well, as my wife and a spearwife of the Free Folk beyond the Wall. - I see - Dany nodded curtly - and how would you feel if I told you that I would lend you my Dothraki army to command over them, and over my Unsullied as well, alongside Grey Worm? - she asked. - What do you ask in return, your Grace? - Jon asked next. - I ask that you bend the knee to me... And to marry me. - Why would I marry you, your Grace? - Jon frowned. - I am the Khaleesi, Jon Snow, and I liberated the Unsullied from their slavery in the Free City of Astapor. They call me Mhysa, or mother, because of that, because of setting them free. Marry me and you will be free to command over them in my name - Dany said softly, but a hint of steel could have been heard in her voice. - No - Jon replied after a few seconds of thinking about the offer - I will not marry you, even if it would be a political marriage, out of interests. Here, by my side, I have a woman I have given my heart to - Ygritte smiled slightly, hearing those words - and there is no other woman for me to love but her. I am willing, however, to bend my knee to you in my and Ygritte's name, since the Free Folk bend no knees to anyone, and Ygritte is still one of them in her heart, by birth, despite being adopted by lord Stark and raised in Winterfell, like I was. - And are you sure that it is not your pride that halts you for making me your wife, Jon Snow, instead the love you feel for your Wildling? - Dany asked in a bit of haughty tone. - Are you the one who is sure tha' it's no' yer own pride t' stop ya from acceptin' that I am Jon's woman, and me folks are free, we're not wild - Ygritte said without a slightest bit of hesitation. - I could have you both executed for daring to speak like that to me, Wildling - Dany huffed - I was meant to rule the Seven Kingdoms... And I will. - Her Grace may do what she wants - Jon said - but there is a right she doesn't have; and that is to feel affection towards a man whose heart has been taken by another. Shall we? - he looked at Ygritte by his side and she nodded. They turned their backs on Dany a moment later, and Jon opened the door; Dany had half a mind to call the few Unsullied guards she had stationed in the hallway and order them to seize Jon and Ygritte, but she gave up on that a moment later, satisfying herself with an angry stare into Ygritte's retreating back while she was walking out a moment after Jon...


	34. Kept Under Guard

Jon woke up late on the following morn and got up, looking at Ygritte's sleeping form for a moment and then he walked towards the door and opened them to see Grey Worm and a Dothraki blood rider standing guard in the hallway. - You are forbidden from leaving your bed chambers, Jon Snow - Grey Worm spoke in his deep accentuated voice - you and you Wildling lover are to stay in your quarters until the Queen sends word that you may leave them for whatever reason. - She may, but I will not have a change of heart nor will I cast Ygritte aside - Jon replied. - You will have to - Grey Worm replied - nobody has the right to deny the Queen Daenerys anything, she always gets what she wants. - No - Jon shook his head - not this time. - And would you risk Ygritte getting raped by the Dothraki if you continue to deny the Queen's demands? - Tyrion Lannister's voice echoed in the hallway, and the Imp appeared a few moments later Jon paled, and so did Ygritte, who woke up in the meantime and listened to the conversation behind Jon's back... - I'd kill m'self before I let any o' those Southerners touch me! - she yelled in defiance... - Please, Jon! - Tyrion begged...

************

\- Have you thought about my offer? - Dany asked Jon, coldly and with no trace of emotion, a few hours later, when he and Ygritte appeared in lord Manderly's Great Hall; the white haired woman narrowed her eyes at the wild red haired girl, thinking how can the savage dare to appear inside the nobleman's Hall? - Your demand, you mean? - Ygritte asked equally coldly... - I am not talking to you, Wildling! - Dany snapped. - An' I don' bend no knee t' a haughty royal lady the likes o' ya - Ygritte said calmly - an' neither will Jon Snow, because 'e is mine, an' I am 'is. - Ygritte... - Jon looked at her, cautiously... - You don't get to choose! - Dany huffed - The Seven Kingdoms are mine by right. - I was not born in the Seven Kingdoms - Ygritte said - we beyond the Wall are free t' do as we like, an' I still feel like I'm one o' them Free Folk, despite bein' raised in Winterfell. A kneeler can take the girl from the real North, bu' the real North can' be taken outta the girl... We don' kneel t' a king or a queen just because their Ma or Pa ruled before them, like you in the South do. Jon Snow won't kneel t' ya nor will 'e take ya as 'is wife, when 'e already 'as me. - Is that true? - Dany glared at Jon. - It is, your Grace - Jon nodded. - Leave - Dany said, staring at the two, her eyes narrowed menacingly, aimed at the redhead huntress...


	35. A Change Of Heart

The rather large army marched through the gate of the Manderly Hall the next day, sometime after dawn; Jon, Ygritte, Ned, Robb, Sandor, Gendry and Tyrion rode the horses in front of everybody, and the cart followed, with Catelyn, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Talisa sitting in the back... 4000 Unsullied marched behind, their pace perfectly coordinated, and 1500 Dothraki on horseback rode behind, that was the army that they gathered on the short notice to try reclaiming Winterfell, the ancestral home of House Stark, from the hands of the usurper Ramsay Bolton. Right now they were marching towards Eastwatch-by-the Sea to meet with Tormund Giantsbane and to see if he managed to form a small attack force of the Free Folk to add to their numbers; Ygritte's heart sang with joy because she was going to see her father again. The three dragons that Dany brought to Westeros when she and her army arrived were flying high in the air above their heads; Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion... Dany rode on Drogon's back, and the land force lost them from sight when they rode into the forest an hour-and-a-half later... The army reached the Free Folk encampment a couple of hours later, when it was nearing the mid of the day; Ygritte jumped down from her saddle upon the moment when she and her father spotted each other; Tormund ran to her and caught his daughter in the strong hug; the Dothraki grew a bit restless when they spotted the giant sitting nearby, but Wun Dar Wun Weg Wun paid them no attention, and there were also a couple of Thenns nearby, glancing at the Dothraki and wondering what they tasted like...

************  
The army rode out of the woods near Winterfell several hours later, in the middle of the afternoon, and they saw a small group of riders riding out through the gates a couple of minutes later; one of them carried a banner, a crimson flayed man on the black background... - I see you have brought my wife back to me, bastard - Ramsay Bolton commented lazily, acting all disinterested at the happenings around him, like the row after row of Dothraki, Unsullied a few of the Free Folk and a giant weren't even there, much less the three grown dragons circling high in the air above their heads - now get down from your horse and bend the knee to the rightful lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, and I'll spare all those savages you brought on my doorstep; refuse, and I'll flay them all, one by one, slowly, while your sisters and that savage bitch you have as your lover will pay the price of your betrayal when they are shared among my soldiers, especially the redhaired wild slut. She's a looker, I must admit it to you, bastard, you have a good taste in girls, it would be a great shame if anything bad were to happen to that beautiful face of hers, now, wouldn't it, bastard? Surrender, and all your lives will be spared, refuse, and I don't guarantee that anything good will happen to either of you if you decide to fight against me. The numbers of your army do not concern me, bastard, since it's mostly savages, my men will defeat them with not too much of a difficulty, that is, if you do not show wisdom and lay down your weapons, all of you. Now, what do you say, bastard? - No - Jon replied. - No? - Ramsay's eyes went a bit wide in surprise. - No - Jon repeated once more, shaking his head. - Oh, well, it's your loss, bastard. I have tried to be benevolent and show you a bit of an undeserved mercy, for your sake and for the well being of your army, since they have no chance of winning, and you refused it, and with that you have endangered all of their lives. You will all die tomorrow if you decide to keep going with this folly, well, until tomorrow, then, bastard. - And with that, Ramsay turned his horse around and he and the few of his men who rode out to meet the enemy forces rode back and disappeared behind the sturdy stone walls of Winterfell a few minutes later...


	36. Captured

The night fell, and Ygritte, The Hound and Gendry were keeping guard on the opposite sides of the improvised camp the army made on the field in front of Winterfell; The Hound stood on guard on the Southern side, turned towards the forest, Ygritte stood in the Northern side turned towards Winterfell, and Gendry stood in the Western side... Ygritte went to made a circle, armed with her dagger and spear, her bow and arrows in the tent that she and Jon shared, when a man appeared behind her, coming out of the darkness, and knocked her unconscious with a fist in the back of her head; he pulled her dagger out of the sheath and tossed it next to her spear, and then he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder and walked away...

************

It was a late morn the next day and the army stood gathered in the field, infantry and cavalry alike, watching Ramsay's army emerging out of Winterfell, slowly; Dany sat in the horseback next to Ned who was on Jon's left, while Gendry and Robb sat in the saddles on Jon's right; Tormund, The Hound and Tyrion were behind them, and the rest of the army followed in the back; the three dragons circled above them in low flight. Ramsay got from his saddle and motioned to one of his men, who separated from the rest of the army and walked forward; Jon saw that the soldier held a rope, which he pulled sharply, making a red haired girl dressed in furs appear between the rows of soldiers; the man passed the rope into Ramsay's hands and Jon paled in fear... - This is what happens because you refused to surrender to me, bastard! - Ramsay yelled, unsheathing his dagger; he cut the rope around Ygritte's wrists, to Jon's confusion, and then he whispered something in her ear; Ygritte started running, her eyes fixed at Jon, while Ramsay casually motioned for another one of his men, and he brought a long bow and a quiver of arrows to his lord; Jon spurred his horse and started galloping over, trying to reach his lover as soon as possible... - 1800 meters - he whispered, counting the distance she ran, starting at 2000 meters... - 1600...1400... - Ramsay pulled an arrow from the quiver when Ygritte was at a 1000 meters distance, took aim and fired, missing the first shot, it looked like he toyed with Ygritte, lulling her and Jon into a false sense of safety... - 800... 600 - Jon counted, and Ramsay pulled another arrow at 600 meters, aimed and fired again; another miss. - 400... 200 - Ygritte was now almost at three arms' length closer to Jon, he was practically upon her at 150 meters, when an arrow passed through her left thigh, the feather right above the back of her knee, and the shaft protruding from her upper leg... - Aaah! - she screamed in pain and she would have had fallen had not Jon grabbed her around the waist with his right arm, jumping down from the saddle of his horse a moment later... - Charge! - Ramsay yelled, and his riders started galloping towards Jon and Ygritte... - Dracarys! - Dany swept on Drogon's back over their heads in a low flight, followed by all of the Dothraki; Drogon blew a stream of fire, turning the Bolton men and their horses into living torches. - Nock! - Ramsay yelled - aim... Loose! - the archers were able of firing only one barrage of arrows until the Dothraki were upon them, cutting them down with their arakhs like the scythe cutting the overgrown grass... - Spearmen! - Ramsay yelled, and his men, protected with long shields turned the tips of their spears towards the quickly galloping bloodriders; many of them being pierced with spear tips through their upper bodies since they did not carried shields. Wun Wun yelled a deafening roar and started charging towards the Bolton army, followed by the Unsullied, who were the counterpart of sorts to Ramsay's spearmen, with their round shields and long spears... Wun Wun broke the first row of the Bolton spearmen with his fists, and then the Unsullied started ramming their spears into the Dreadfort soldiers through the gaps in the upper sides of their shields, while the Unsullied's metal shields protected them better than the wood-and-iron shields with their house sigil protected the Bolton men... Ramsay turned his horse and rode off, feeling a slight bit of fear as seeing the giant and those strange dark skinned soldiers decimating his forces quickly... - Block the gate! - he yelled to a few of his men as he found himself in the training courtyard of Winterfell and jumped down from his saddle; the Bolton men closed the gate and blocked it with a wooden beam, but Wun Wun managed to break it after a few strong swings of his fists a few seconds ago... Wun Wun ran into the courtyard, followed by Jon, three Dothraki with arakhs and 5-6 Unsullied, Grey Worm in the lead. Ramsay aimed and shot an arrow into Wun Wun's right eye, making the giant fall on his knees, but before he managed to fire one more arrow, Grey Worm threw his spear, which ended in Ramsay's lower belly, making him drop his bow and fall on the ground, moaning painfully... Jon walked over to him, slowly, gripping the hilt of Longclaw and he raised his sword and wanted to cut Ramsay's throat... - Come... Come on, bastard - Ramsay moaned - you won, surely you would not have killed a heavily wounded man? - Snow - Jon heard Wun Wun's weak growl behind his back and turned; the last giant in the North now leaned on his hands and knees, dying slowly, while Ygritte stood by him, holding her hand on the giant's shoulder and crying... - Take him to the kennels - Jon ordered two Stark soldiers who walked over, got Ramsay up from the ground, still with the spear in his stomach, and they led him past the direwolf statues in the covered part of the courtyard and through the passageway that led downwards, into the tunnel on the opposite side from the tombs - his dogs will be hungry, most likely, after not being fed for some time...


	37. Refusing The Demand

A couple of days passed by, since Winterfell was retaken from Ramsay Bolton and brought back under the rule of House Stark once again; Ned, Catelyn and the others were feeling happy to be back where they truly belonged once more, and Ned decided to relinquish his title of Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North to Jon, so Ygritte and he would become the lord and lady of Winterfell (in name only, since Ygritte did not believed in being bound by a title, and they decided to take her opinion into consideration as well as Jon's, the two of them may have had been a baseborn and a spearwife of the Free Folk, but they were as much a part of the Stark household as Ned, Catelyn, Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon and Talisa were, the latter ever since she married Robb)... Robb decided to crown himself King in the North, however, and to have Jon as his Hand; he will make Talisa his Queen, and Sansa immediately volunteered to be her handmaiden and lady-in-waiting while he decided to name Ygritte the Mistress-at-Arms, so that ser Rodrik Cassel may retire since he was old, despite his still great strength, and Gendry was to become Mikken's apprentice in the smithy, and to succeed him in a few years, since Mikken was also great in age, as was the cook, Gage, and Arya suggested her friend Hot Pie to come to Winterfell and take over the position, gradually, to lessen Gage's chores and duties a bit, until he becomes the new cook in time; Robb promised Arya that he will think about it... Daenerys sent for Jon again, by Tyrion, accentuating that he was to come alone, and Ygritte scoffed derisively at that. - What? - Jon looked at her, carefully. - Will she ever learn tha' we are not t' be brought apart? - she replied coolly. - You're right - Jon nodded - I don't know why she wants to make a marital alliance with me, when Robb is the King, not I and both of us are married. - What? - Tyrion glanced at Jon, in a slight shock... - I was captured a few years ago, in the Frostfangs, by Jon an' Qhorin 'alfhan'. Jon disarmed me when I pulled me dagger at 'im an' grabbed me by me jacket when I went t' reach for the axe, after 'e and Qhorin ambushed the group I was with. They killed the others an' took me prisoner, leavin' Jon t' watch over me, 'e tried t' behead me but 'e couldn', so 'e tied me instead, an' that's when I became 'is wife, by the laws an' customs o' the Free Folk. I am 'is, an' 'e is mine, from that day t' our las' day... - I see - Tyrion nodded - the Queen will not like that answer, but I will tell her what you said anyway. - Ya do tha' - Ygritte replied - and I don' care wha' will your Queen like or not like. - She is the Queen of all of us - Tyrion replied, getting another scoff in return. - She's no' me queen, nor Jon's - Ygritte sneered lightly - the real North bends no knee t' anyone. - I understand - Tyrion jumped down from his chair and bowed lightly to both Jon and Ygritte - she will not like it one bit, but I still have to inform her. - And with that, Tyrion turned and left the Great Hall of Winterfell, hobbling on his stunted feet towards the door that led out, in the hallway...


	38. Detained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blinded by irrationality, Daenerys orders Jon and Ygritte being thrown into the dungeons in Winterfell...

The next day, later on the morn, Jon and Ygritte were walking down the hallway from their bedchambers towards the Great Hall to break their fast, when they were stopped by Grey Worm, who had his spear tip aimed at them, and a pair of Dothraki riders with arakhs stood behind him; Jon pulled Longclaw from the scabbard and started fighting the Unsullied leader, while Ygritte halted the Dothraki blades with her dagger... - Stop! - Dany's voice echoed suddenly - drop your sword or she dies. - Jon looked behind his back; another pair of Dothraki were holding Ygritte's arms, and the one on the right held the blade of her own dagger at her neck; Jon sighed in defeat, seeing his Free Folk wife disarmed and held hostage of his aunt, by the Dothraki warriors she had under her command; his Valyrian steel sword fell on the floor with the metallic clang of the blade echoing against the stones, and then Grey Worm walked towards Jon and gripped his left arm, and they followed the two Dothraki who held Ygritte between them, all of them walking downstairs to the dungeons; the lovers were carelessly thrown in, and the pair of Dothraki who were holding Ygritte a few moments ago were now standing on both sides of the cell door, keeping guard...

************

It was late at night, and Jon was trying to fall asleep for hours, but it was futile, he felt worried, thinking what would Dany do to them... Ygritte, in the meantime, removed the worn leather belt on which the empty fur sheath for her dagger hung, and she knocked on the door a few times and started stripping, taking her heavy fur jacket off, and then her boiled leather vest she wore underneath, as the door opened; the Dothraki guards stepped inside, drawn by the sight of Ygritte's naked upper body, and she wiggled her hips seductively a few times, her breasts bouncing slightly, and when the first guard walked closer, she kneed him in the groin and relieved him of his arakh, which was a bit heavy, so she had to grip the hilt with both hands; she cut the guard's throat with his own weapon a moment later, but when the other guard swung his arakh at her, the clash of blade against blade made her drop it, partly because of its heaviness; Ygritte cursed quietly, because she was disarmed, again... She dodged the swing of the guard's blade and kicked his kneecap, breaking his knee. The Dothraki guard yelled in pain and fell down on his good knee, and Ygritte grabbed the arakh she was forced to drop earlier and rammed the blade through the guard's abdomen, letting him fall on the floor and bleed out, slowly, the weapon still stuck in his body... - Come on! - she grabbed Jon's wrist and grabbed her boiled leather vest and fur jacket, putting her clothes back on as the two of them ran down the hall; Jon managed to pick up her belt and carried it in his left hand, and they ran upstairs and into their bechambers when they found them, Jon grabbed Longclaw and his dagger from the table in the center of the room, and Ygritte grabbed her dagger, bow and quiver of arrows, and then they rearmed themselves and ran out of the room, quickly, because they heard footsteps echoing down the hall, getting closer; Jon and Ygritte managed to get out and hide behind the nearby wall just as the two Unsullied guards appeared in the hall, followed by a Dothraki rider. - _Fucking bitch_ \- Ygritte thought - _so, Mother of Dragons thinks that she rules Winterfell and the North now, doesn't she? -_ Quietly, she and Jon made it further down the hall and found themselves at the end of the hallway, near a small window; Ygritte passed through with ease, despite being armed, because of her slim built, and she started climbing down, watching not to lose balance; Jon unbuckled his sword belt and threw it out to be able to pass through... Their climb down took them a few minutes, but Jon breathed with relief when they found themselves in the training courtyard. He buckled his sword belt again, and then he and Ygritte ran towards the stables, finding the saddled black war horses inside, and they led them outside by their reins, passed through the gate (which were wide open, for some reason, even at this time of night. They jumped into saddles when they made a few meters of distance between themselves and the Main Gates of Winterfell, and then they took direction towards Moat Cailin...


	39. Restlessness

Ned felt anxiety seeping through his bones in addition to fatigue; he had not had slept for the last few days, nor did the rest of his household, his men went patrolling, looking for his adopted son and nephew and his Free Folk wife and, to make matters worse, the Targaryen girl took over giving orders in Winterfell, like she was its lady, not his Catelyn nor his oldest trueborn son Robb's wife, Talisa from Volantis... Out of all the people, Arya was the one who was the most emotional and nervous about the whole situation, because she grew pretty close to Ygritte, most likely because the wild daughter of Tormund Giantsbane was Arya's favorite cousin/half brother's love interest, in addition to her and Arya being a bit alike and sharing a few similar personality traits... All of a sudden there was the knock on the door of his solar, and Grey Worm walked in. - Her Grace the Queen Daenerys asks for your presence - the dark skinned young commander of the eunuch soldiers informed Ned. - Were your men successful in their search for the fugitives, lord Stark? - Dany asked Ned as soon as he entered the Great Hall. - No, Your Grace - he replied - they are still riding all the way to the Wall. - Well, I want them both here so that I can throw your nephew in the dungeon and take care that the wild bitch he married gets her deserved punishment! - she said loudly. - I see - Ned nodded curtly, fighting to remain calm while everything screamed with worry inside of him - may I be excused, Your Grace? I have many things to do in my solar - he said, and Dany just waved him off, shortly...

************

Ygritte peeked from the hollowed inside of the weirwood tree; strangely, a tunnel was made inside, but they haven't had yet found out where did that tunnel led to; both she and Jon were hungry and tired... Hungry because they had not had dared to go out and look for some small game to catch, like a deer or a rabbit, thanks to horseback mounted patrols consisting of Stark man and a couple of Dothraki; they sweeped the area constantly, searching for the two of them day after day, and neither Ygritte nor Jon wanted to think about what fate would befall them if they were found, and they were not sleeping at the same time for the same reason; it would not do for them both to be caught while being deeply asleep... As the loud, angry screech echoed in the air, Ygritte felt tears pooling in her eyes, and she turned her head and looked at Jon, who looked peaceful in his sleep; the dragon (or dragons) were the last thing that were needed to be included in the ruthless search for the couple, like Stark men and Dothraki weren't more than enough, now they had one or two, maybe even all three of Targaryen's fucking flying lizards helping to search for her and Jon, Ygritte thought nervously...


	40. Back To Wilderness

Two days later, Jon and Ygritte breathed with relief as they found themselves near Castle Black, about which his uncle Benjen told him on a few occasions, when he would came to a short visit to Winterfell, back when both Jon and Ygritte were kids, aged 3 and 4, but that was a long time ago, he thought with a bit of nostalgia as he cast his gaze upon the ancient stronghold of the Night's Watch; when he and Ygritte started to walk slowly through the secret tunnel in the tree in the Godswood of Winterfell, he hadn't imagined, even in his wildest fantasies, that it would bring them into the territory where Ygritte was born, and she hadn't had known about it either... It was late morn now, eight days since they left Winterfell counting the six they spent hiding in the face tree while the Stark men and Dothraki looked around for them; recalling the maps of the North that maester Luwin talked about to Jon when he was not busy teaching Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon things that all true born noble sons and daughters are supposed to know, and Ygritte would join Jon almost every time when he was with the old maester who explained details to him (and her as well), Ygritte realized that they were 3-4 hours far from The Fist of the First Men, and some 45 minutes away from the Fist was Skirling Pass, where her tribe (and a few others) had a temporary encampment... - 'Ere - Ygritte said after approximately 2-and-a-half hours of walk, through the forest, mostly - we should see the Pass any minute now, it's no' far away, an' then we'll be safe. - Just as she said those words, a dragon roar was heard again, high in the air above them, and they saw it gliding through the pine trees. - D' ya think 'e saw us? - Ygritte whispered, a bit afraid now like she was a few days ago when she heard that same roar while they were hiding in the hollow tree trunk in the godswood... - I don't think he did, he was flying too high - Jon replied quietly, and then the loud neighing of a horse was heard, Ygritte's eyes went wide with a bit of shock; who was that? The Crows from Castle Black in patrol? Or the Dothraki, looking for them... All of Ygritte's worries, however, were replaced by an even bigger concern when a shadowcat appeared behind them, and alerted them with the growl; Jon slowly turned his head to the right, Ygritte to the left; horse neighed loudly once again, and a group of Dothraki, 5-6 of them, appeared between the first trees, holding their arakhs, sitting on horsebacks. The shadowcat growled loudly and deafeningly, and charged at the first Blood Rider, obviously the leader, knocking him off the horse before he even could have thought about swinging his arakh... While the beast feasted on the leader, the other two Dothraki rode closer and slashed at its back with their curved blades, but it chased them away a few paces with the swing of its clawed paws, and then a spear flew, ramming itself into the shadowcat's back. The great beast roared in pain, but the two Dothraki finished it with their arakhs, and then the land started shaking, and a giant appeared a few moments later... The remaining Dothraki widened their eyes in shock and slight fear, but then they charged the giant; he grabbed two of them and lifted them out of their saddles, and he crushed every bone in their bodies; in the next second the others turned their horses and rode away, and a few fur-clad men with axes, led by a man with red hair and beard, armed with a short sword (or a long dagger), appeared from the forest; the red beard man's blue eyes, a few shades darker than Ygritte's, looked at her a bit carefully. - Ygritte...? - the man whispered, almost not daring to believe, his eyes becoming slightly moist - daughter... - he walked over to her and caught her in the strong hug a moment later. - Welcome home, daughter - he said a bit more loudly this time, and Ygritte's eyes were wide again, but out of surprise this time, not out of fear... - Come! - the red haired man's voice, whose name was Tormund Giantsbane, snapped Ygritte and Jon out of their ruminations - it's not long till we reach the camp, so follow me. - And with that, he turned his back onto the young couple and started to walk away, slowly; having not much of an alternate choice, Ygritte and Jon followed after her father a moment later...


	41. A Descent Into Madness

It was early after the noon hour when the patrol returned to Winterfell, 2-3 hours later, and Dany ran down the stairs and into the courtyard, hastily, followed closely by Grey Worm... - What happened? - she demanded from one of the Stark men when she saw that three of her Dothraki were missing, she recognized the horses that were still with the patrol, their saddles empty. The face of the Mother of Dragons was slowly becoming darker as the Stark soldier explained what happened in the Beyond... - The wildling giant killing two of my Dothraki is an open act of rebellion against my rule - she said, frowning heavily - Grey Worm! - she turned away and called the commander of the Unsullied. - Yes, my Queen? - he bowed his head... - Gather what Unsullied you can till nightfall, and I will see how many of the Dothraki are battle ready; we march beyond the Wall early on the morrow, to attack the nearest Wildlings' encampments that we may find. With any luck, the two fugitives that we are looking for will most probably be at one of their camps, and then we will punish them all for their betrayal of me, the rightful Queen! - Yes, Your Grace! - Grey Worm nodded once more, turned around and marched off to fulfill the task that his Queen gave to him. - Enjoy what little peace you and your Wildling bitch have, Jon Snow - Dany muttered darkly, keeping her eyes fixed on the spot where her commander stood a moment ago - tomorrow, my armies will destroy every wildling camp they run into, and you will watch your whore burning before your eyes, and you will be thrown into the dungeon, but I won't kill you, nor would I allow anyone under my command to do that, oh no. Killing you would mean that you would be reunited with your little slut in death, but we can't have that now, can we? I need you alive and broken, when you realize that you have no other choice, and that your redhead is dead, you will declare your love and loyalty to me! - she muttered, a dark and vicious smile gracing her lips while she slowly walked away from the training courtyard to return inside...


	42. Taken Prisoners

Jon and Ygritte were sitting with Tormund and a few Thenns in one of the tents in the center of the Free Folk encampment when a guard appeared, pushing the flap at the entrance aside he was slightly out of breath, and it was 11th hour of the day, now... - What is it? - Tormund glanced sharply. - A large army is approaching - the guard breathed - they come from the direction of the Shadow Tower! - The Crows? - Tormund asked, suspicion clear in his tone. - No - the guard shook his head - they wear furs and leather, some are bronze skinned, armed with curved swords, around fifteen hundred of them, and they ride horses. The others have darker skin, and they wear leather breastplates and face helmets, and are armed with spears, round shields and daggers, and that's not all, the three grown dragons fly high in the air and a white haired woman rides one of the dragons, as our other guards informed... - Seven hells! - Jon swore angrily, jumping on his feet; he grabbed his sword belt from the corner of the tent they sat in and stormed out; Ygritte followed a moment later, grabbing her bow and arrows... She still had her dagger in the sheath on her left hip, so it did not took her long to fully arm herself. The loud screeching broke out and a dragon appeared high above their heads; it started diving, lowering its flight altitude, and at her own misfortune another spearwife aimed at the chest of a dragon in low flight, and she threw the spear in the next moment, but it just grazed against the scaly skin and flew somewhere out of the spearwife's sight... - Dracarys! - Dany shouted, a mad gleam in her eyes, and Drogon spewed a stream of bright orange-an-yellow flame, incinerating the spearwife and few Thenns that ran out from another tent, armed with heavy axes... A giant appeared between the tents, and he roared at the dragon in a challenging manner and charged him; a couple of mammoths appeared, and they charged at the newly-arrived Dothraki, ramming a few of them, and their horses, on their tusks. Tormund and the Thenn who was in the tent clashed with the Unsullied, around four hundred of them, fighting with their axes against the eunuch soldiers' spears and shields... - Father! - Ygritte yelled loudly as she saw one of the Unsullied ramming his spear into Tormund's guts; he dropped his axe and fell on his knees, blood trickling from his mouth... Ygritte pulled an arrow, aimed and fired, shooting the Unsullied soldier through his neck, straight into the artery. She dropped her bow, unsheathed the dagger and charged at another, but as her eyes were fogged with tears, she didn't saw him pushing his spear tip forward; he grazed her wrist, forcing her to drop the dagger, and he was upon her in a second's notice, unsheathing his own dagger and he went to stab her in the heart, but Jon found himself behind the Unsullied soldier and he ran him through with the blade of Longclaw... The soldier fell on top of Ygritte, and Jon had to defend himself against the two Dothraki that charged at him, their arakhs raised the blades of the swords clanged loudly, but since it were two swords against one, Longclaw was knocked out of Jon's hand when the two Dothraki swung their curved blades once more; they kicked Jon with their booted feet, knocking him down onto the snow covered ground, while a pair of Unsullied removed the dead body of their fallen brother in arms and they pulled Ygritte back up on her feet, roughly, in the following second, and removed her quiver with a few arrows left in it from her back, tossing it on the ground next to her feet, while one of the Dothraki who kicked Jon down crouched and pulled his dagger out of the sheath, tossing it carelessly next to Ygritte's quiver, and then Grey Worm approached as Jon was also lifted back on his feet, and he just threw a momentary glance at them and ordered that their wrists be tied behind their back, and then he turned his back and left; Jon and Ygritte threw small glances at each other, feeling helpless, they were disarmed and tied, taken prisoners of the mad queen who had a trio of fully grown dragons at her disposal, and not to mention a small part of her large army she brought with herself when she crossed the Narrow Sea, traveling from Essos to Westeros...


	43. Cold Teeth Of Death

The large column of Dothraki on horsebacks rode out of the flaming ruins of the Free Folk encampment half an hour later; the tents were burning down slowly, while the dead bodies of Tormund, the giant, a few Thenns and two mammoths were left out to rot in the cold. Jon and Ygritte were placed between the Dothraki and the Unsullied, their hands tied in the back as I have mentioned before; a Blood Rider who rode in front of them carried their weapons in the back of his horse, and whenever either one of the two would deliberately slow their pace, feigning tiredness, they would get poked by the Unsullied's spear tip as a warning to take their step, not to stall and procrastinate their return to Winterfell, where the Queen would pay them their deserved price... All of a sudden they all heard a low growl coming out of their surroundings, shrouded by mist and snow that started to fall down once again; the Dothraki and Unsullied started to throw each other uneasy glances, especially after the growls were followed by the sound of the paws walking over the snow laden soil; Jon and Ygritte turned to their right to look, and they both spotted a blue glow a few meters away from them, but so did Grey Worm and he threw his spear in that direction... Another growl was heard, this one far louder, and a gigantic bear ran out of the mist and jumped at the Dothraki horseman who kept the weapons of Jon and Ygritte behind his saddle; Dothraki warrior screamed in pain and a bit of fear as the bear (who was a wight, Jon noticed) ripped him apart; the Unsullied and Dothraki started turning around in all directions, being careful in case if there would be another one of those undead monstrosities (although Dany and her army hadn't had known about their existence yet, but they surely will know, after this close encounter, Jon thought) coming out from the thick white mist to attack them with intent to kill and seriously harm them... Few Dothraki archers started shooting the wight bear with arrows, and a couple of Unsullied threw their spears, but to no avail, the beast was simply not falling... - Fire! - Jon yelled suddenly - fire may kill them! - he shouted to Dany; she looked behind her shoulder, towards Viserion, and she was just about to command him to spit flame at the wight bear when the spear, whose tip looked like it was made of crystal, flew from the mist, hitting the dragon in the neck; Jon and Ygritte used the moment of confusion among their captors, and they grabbed their weapons from the backside of the now dead horse and ran away into the mist, out of sight of Dany and her Dothraki and Unsullied armies; whatever lurked at them in the thick whiteness, they felt a bit better having their weapons with them once again, especially Jon, whose blade was a Valyrian steel sword... In the meantime, Dany caressed Viserion, who was dying slowly; tears pooled in her eyes, and in her mind appeared another thought that this was one more debt she owed to Jon Snow and his wildling lover; in her mind they were the ones who lured her and her army into this trap and cost her her dragon, although she alone was the one who ordered that they were to go in that direction...


	44. The Cave (Part I)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I pulled a bit of an inspiration for the chamber that Jon and Ygritte found themselves in from the 1982 movie 'Conan the Barbarian', in which the adult Conan finds the Atlantean sword in the tomb of a dead king and takes it, and as for the sword that Ygritte decides to use, it is based upon the design of the Cimmerian sword of the blacksmith Corin (William Smith), Conan's father in the old movie...
> 
> Written for entertainment only  
> No copyright infringement intended

<https://www.ebay.com/itm/Official-Windlass-Steelcrafts-Conan-The-Barbarian-Fathers-Sword-/274153187583>

Jon and Ygritte ran for a few minutes, until they were sure that they made enough of a distance between themselves and their captors, and then they sat down against the pine tree, breathing with slight exhaustion, thanks to the cold air among other things... - Wha' are we s'possed t' do now, Jon Snow? - Ygritte asked a few minutes later, after they both caught some breath. - I don't know - he replied shortly, putting Longclaw and his dagger back into their scabbards, but Ygritte leaned her dagger, bow and quiver of arrows against the tree... - You know nothin', Jon Snow - she replied, a slight sarcasm was heard in her voice, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, however - we should try an' find a cave, we can spend the night in it - she said; they kept on walking a few minutes later, after regaining a bit more of their strength, and when they walked out of the small pine forest, they saw a large face tree in front of them, approximately 150 meters away, but this one had a black hole in the front, where the face of the gods usually was, and when they came closer Jon saw a set of steps and a pathway leading inside, but where?, he thought... He pulled Longclaw out of the scabbard and walked down, carefully, Ygritte following behind him, an arrow ready on the string of her bow... Soon they found themselves in some sort of a very spacious cave, except that it did not looked like an ordinary cave at all, more like a tomb of some highborn lord or even a king from some other time and place... An empty stone throne, carved out of one slab, stood in the center of the room, and a few swords, with their blades polished despite looking hundreds and hundreds of years old, littered the floor; few bronze round shields decorated the walls, Jon crouched and lifted one of the swords from the floor; it felt light in his hand, despite its decorated hilt and long blade, it would sure be, he thought, easy for Ygritte to handle... - Ygritte - he called her. - Y'ah? - she glanced at him... - Try this, tell me how it feels in your hand - he tossed the sword to her, and she swung it a couple of times. - I like it - she said, grinning - I'll keep it, it surely doesn't look like one of your fancy castle swords - she studied it a bit more closely, and it had a hand guard in the shape of an antlered skull, with some strange runic script running the whole length of the blade...


	45. The Cave (Part II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon and Ygritte make an improvised temporary homestead for themselves...

After two hours' rest and regaining a bit of their strength, Jon and Ygritte decided to get down to business, and so they looked around if they'd be lucky enough to find some stones to close the entrance to keep themselves safe from any kind of unwanted visitors, and they found a pile of small rocks a few meters away from the tomb-like chamber where Jon found a sword for his wild beauty of a wife... They picked up a few stones, each, and carried them towards the entrance, and started piling them at the base of the tree, although they both knew it was not the best of protection in any case, but they had not had anything else at their disposal; however, it would be enough that if someone from outside, who found themselves in the area, to kick down the stones piled, and walk inside, and soon the two of them would be discovered living here, even if it was only for a short time, a few days at best; that possibility of being discovered by someone else made both Jon and Ygritte a bit worried, but right now they had some other urgent business to take care of, so they could not have wasted their time by wrecking their minds with such thoughts. When they finished blocking the entrance through the tree with stones they found, Ygritte and Jon went back to the tomb-like chamber and Ygritte found a few twigs and two spear shafts with rusted iron tips, and she used her dagger to remove the rusted iron and then she cut the shafts into pieces by her dagger and a small fire was soon burning, warming the inside of the chamber... Ygritte removed her fur jacket because it became too hot a couple of minutes later, and Jon removed his cloak, lined with fur, and his leather jerkin... They had a few pieces of dried meat and they quickly ate their meager dinner, washing the saltiness away with some water that Jon had in his leather flask... Jon volunteered to take the first watch, just in case, although neither he nor Ygritte could possibly fathom what could happen to them here, where they were relatively safe from the outside danger, well, more or less, but better to be safe than sorry, especially in the case if a bear or some other wild animal found a shelter for itself somewhere around here... Ygritte piled her weapons, including her newfound sword, on the left side from where she lied down, using Jon's cloak as the sheet to lie on, and she was asleep almost instantly, sleeping on her side, with her right arm under her head for support, and Jon glanced at her for a moment; she looked so beautiful, so peaceful, asleep like this, with a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, and then he came back looking at the crackling fire, casting a glance around himself here and there, just so that some beast does not surprise them... A few hours later, Jon felt his eyelids dropping with tiredness and he almost succumbed to the temptation to fall asleep, when he thought he heard a quiet growl coming from somewhere on his right, and his eyes snapped wide open; he got up on his feet in an instant, unsheathing Longclaw and gripping the hilt so hard with both hands. The growl was heard once more, a bit louder this time, accompanied by a red glow of a pair of eyes; Jon felt his forehead becoming sweaty with fear; what could that be?, he thought frantically, firmly intent on protecting Ygritte and himself, even at the price of his own life, as long as she remains safe and unharmed by whatever lurked in the darkness around here, he thought, swinging Longclaw a few times to encourage himself in spite of a numbing fear he felt... 


	46. An Old Friend

Jon walked a step or two towards the front, the blade of Longclaw aimed towards the spot from where the growl was heard, only for it to be replaced by a soft, almost inaudible, tapping of paws on the dust covered stone floor of the tomb-like chamber, and a gigantic wolf-like beast the size of a she-bear slowly stepped out of the thick darkness, illuminated by the light of a dying fire; the direwolf's fur was white as snow, his eyes blood red, like the bark and eyes of a godswood tree, and Jon relaxed the grip on the hilt of his sword and lowered the blade towards the ground... - Ghost? - Jon asked in slight surprise, and the albino direwolf walked closer and rubbed his head against the young man's black clad thigh; Jon scratched Ghost's head with his free hand. A few moments later, Ghost walked towards the spot near the stone throne and lay between it and the spot where the fire was lit, lying down and putting its head on its front paws, eyes wide open and glancing around alertedly every few moments when the wolf would raised its head... Jon put Longclaw back in the scabbard and unbuckled his sword belt, putting it on the side where he was going to sleep, and then he joined Ygritte, turning on his side and putting his hand under his head, like she did, and he closed his eyes and started snoring quietly, feeling dead tired; Ghost looked around for a few moments, and then he also laid its head back on his paws and closed his eyes, falling into a lighter slumber than his master, keeping his ears perked up for any sound that could mean harm to him, his master, or his master's red haired mate, whom he spotted sleeping a few seconds before; his master told him that she is his mate...


	47. Refugees

Jon and Ygritte were living in the tomb-like cavern for a few days now, but for how many days, they could not say for certain... The entrance to the hollowed weirwood tree was shut with piled up stones, and their hideout was a fair distance away from it, but again not as far as either of them would have had liked, because they mostly stayed there, not daring to walk too far away from the chamber because they found out a lot of pathways leading everywhere, and they were very easy for anyone who went exploring to get lost easily and to be unable to find their way back, and it was usually Jon, accompanied by Ghost, while Ygritte remained behind to keep guard; she and Ghost ventured out 2-3 times at most in the last couple of days, and it was Jon who went out on all the remaining occasions, his tracking skill slowly becoming an equal match with hers... They were now sitting across from each other, near the fire, while Ghost laid on the floor a few meters farther with his head placed on his front legs when, suddenly, he raised his head and perked his ears as if he heard something and was now listening carefully... - Ghost? What is it, boy? - Jon stared at his direwolf, a bit anxiously... Ghost started growling quietly a moment later, and Jon unsheathed Longclaw and stood up, now hearing something that sounded like scraping of boots on the pebble covered pathway that led from the entrance in the tree towards the chamber they were in. - Ygritte - he said half loudly, a warning audible in his voice, and the Stark raised spearwife got up as well and grabbed her own sword and stood by Jon's side; the echo of footsteps approaching now became a bit more louder, and both Jon and Ygritte gripped the hilts of their swords more firmly, silently praying to the Old Gods that that weren't the Dothraki or Unsullied walking down the path, because if they discovered their hideout... A few moments later, an older man with shoulder length brown hair and trimmed beard and mustache appeared inside, he was dressed in leather jerkin, woolen tunic, breeches and high boots, and was armed with a sword and dagger on his side, and a larger sword across his back, its hilt peeking above the man's left shoulder... - Father? - Jon asked, surprised. - Jon? Ygritte? - Ned Stark was equally confused; how did they managed to evade being captured by Daenerys and her soldiers? However, he was also happy to see them alive and safe... Sansa, Arya, Robb and Talisa appeared behind Ned, Sansa and Talisa wearing gowns, while Robb and Arya were dressed similar to Ned; Arya was even armed with Needle and the catspaw dagger... Ned told Jon and Ygritte with heavy voice that Catelyn, Bran and Rickon were thrown in the dungeon by Daenerys' orders, a task done by Grey Worm himself, and that Ned and the others who were now with him escaped late the following night through the hidden pathway in the crypts that only members of Stark household knew about for centuries past... That was two and a half days ago and they spent their time from the moment they were granted passage through Castle Black and on the other side of the Wall looking for Jon and Ygritte everywhere, having a bit of hope that they will find them and reunite with them...


	48. Making Plans

A couple of days have had past since Ned, Sansa, Arya, Robb and Talisa found Jon and Ygritte in the burial hall; they were trying to make a plan to gather an army, sufficient enough in number, to try to liberate Winterfell from Dany's rule, and Ygritte suggested that they could go to the isle of Skagos, but Ned vehemently refused, and Sansa suggested the ride to Riverlands, to ask Brynden 'The Blackfish' Tully for help, she was certain that her great uncle would not turn down the plea for help, and she also suggested going to the Reach, to ask lady Olenna Tyrell for help... Almost all of them fell asleep rather soon, except for Robb who volunteered for the first guard, accompanied by Ghost, and then Ygritte replaced Robb a few hours later...

************

Jon, Ned and Ygritte were removing the piled stones from the entrance several hours later, and they blinked their eyes a few times after a bit of daylight was let in; they saw that they day was a bit sunny, despite snow on the ground and the coldness in the air... They gathered their belongings as quickly as they were able to, but they didn't bother to cover the entrance to the tomb again, because neither Jon and Ygritte were certain if they would ever again visit the crypt where they lived for a few days, but who knows...? They planned to ride back to White Harbor, for one, and try to find a galley that would take them to Dragonstone, where they planned to make themselves a new hideout and base of operations, and from there they would ride to Riverrun, Highgarden and wherever else it was needed...

************

Catelyn shielded her eyes from the light when the door of her cell opened suddenly; she haven't had a slightest idea anymore for how many days she was locked or were Bran and Rickon even alive or safe, for that matter? All that she knew was that her youngest sons were locked in a different cell, and that was about it... She removed her hand from her eyes when she got used to the light, and she saw Grey Worm standing in the doorframe, armed only with his dagger, and he wasn't wearing a helmet, unlike a pair of Unsullied guards who stood behind him, armed with their spears and shields... - Her Grace the Queen wants to see you - he spoke in his deep accentuated voice, and Catelyn got up slowly and followed after him; her eyes went wide with horror when she appeared in the courtyard; a Stark banner was ripped from the battlements where it usually stood, dropped in a muddy heap at the foot of a high wall, and replaced with a Targaryen banner; to make matters worse, she noticed a few Dothraki on horsebacks galloping near the stables, swinging their arakhs on the pair of already slightly mutilated bodies tied with ropes to the beams that held the roof of the stables... - No!!! - she yelled loudly and tears sprang to her eyes when she recognized the bodies belonging to the kennel master Farlen and the cook Gage; she fell on her knees, tears running freely down her cheeks, while the Dothraki were hooting and screaming in bloodthirsty delight, the hooves of their horses wildly kicking the slightly frozen ground as they galloped around; Drogon and Rhaegal swooped in the low flight above and over the battlements of Winterfell, both dragons letting out loud ear-splitting roars...


	49. Return To The White Harbor

Grey Worm grabbed Catelyn's upper arm and pulled her back up on her feet, roughly, not giving her enough time to pull herself together... - Come, the Queen doesn't like to be kept waiting - he said, leading her towards the stairs and up. They walked down the hallway to the Great Hall and then they entered a few minutes later... - The Lady of Winterfell, my Queen - Grey Worm said, releasing Catelyn's arm. - Thank you, Grey Worm, you may go - Dany said softly. - As you command, my Queen - he nodded curtly, turned and left the Hall... - How do you feel, lady Stark? - Dany asked, trying to keep her tone gentle during the conversation she was hoping to have with the older woman. - How do I feel? You think that is really the right thing to ask after you threw me and my two youngest sons in the dungeon and after your savages harassed the dead bodies of the kennel master and cook of Winterfell?!? - Careful, lady Stark - Dany's tone lost a bit of its gentleness - be mindful of your tone and remember that you are talking with the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms! You will address me with respect... Or you will die. Not immediately, of course - Dany grinned wickedly - first I'd let my Dothraki have some fun with you, and after they're finished I'll command Grey Worm to cut your throat, so the choice is yours; Will you obey and respect your Queen, or will you defy me and try to disrupt my rule? - I... I will respect my Queen, Your Grace - Catelyn replied, sighing dejectedly. - Good - Daenerys nodded - I'm glad to see you have a bit of common sense left, and if you ever doubt yourself for supporting me, remind yourself that this is all your husband's bastard's fault, because he choose to love that filthy savage instead of me! - I see - Catelyn replied - this is all just because you couldn't lure Jon Snow in your bed... I know Ygritte, she is not a filthy savage as you say, Jon loves her sincerely, and she loves him, and she is a better lover to him that you could ever hope to be - Catelyn said with a bit of defiance towards this white haired stuck up bitch that she now stood before; she choose not to heed the warning the little whore gave her, and to try to show her that North will not be broken completely, no matter how hard she tried...

************

The small group was halfway to The White Harbor when they stopped an hour before dusk and decided to light a fire and to spend the night in the open; they were Northerners, after all, even Talisa started to grow accustomed to the climate and way of life... Ned felt pleased that he had had managed to take Ice, the ancestral Valyrian steel sword of House Stark with him before they left; it would just not do if he left it in Winterfell, for Daenerys to lay her hands on it, because who knows what would she do with the blade? Ned was the first one to keep guard that night, and Jon replaced him a couple of hours later, and then Ygritte replaced Jon, and kept guard till the dawn came... When the Sun appeared high in the sky, they kept travelling further Northeast while at the same time Jory Cassel and Osha were led out in the courtyard of Winterfell, their wrists tied behind their backs; Jory was disarmed and his face had a few bruises, a courtesy of the fists of the Dothraki blood riders, while Osha was unharmed for a moment, but that was not going to last for too long: it was late morning and Catelyn stood on a wooden balcony, looking down into the courtyard, not being able to help herself and go somewhere away in any other part of the castle but here, and she felt deep revulsion and disgust for whatever was going to happen... A pair of Dothraki put their hands onto Jory's shoulders and they forced him on their knees, and in the next moment Grey Worm got closer to the captain of the guard, now their prisoner, unsheathed his dagger and cut Jory's throat; the former captain of the guard of House Stark fell down on the ground, face first, blood pouring out of the cut on his neck and onto the snow covered frozen soil; Catelyn watched in a bit of morbid interest mixed with utter disgust as the same pair of Dothraki walked towards Osha, stripped her from the coarse dress she wore until she stood naked in the courtyard, except for the boots she had on her feet and then they took her at the same time, one of them entering her from the front, the other from behind; the former spearwife of the Free Folk clenched her teeth, deciding not to give these Southern savages the pleasure of screaming while they raped her, because she still had a bit of her pride and dignity left, despite being dishonored in the most horrible way imaginable; Catelyn forced herself to avert her eyes and walk away from the sight just so that she would not have to witness these monstrosities anymore, but a terrible thought appeared in her mind; What if she was the next one whom Daenerys designated to go through such treatment at the hands of the Dragon Bitch's soldiers? One could never know at what lengths was the last Targaryen ready to go, now that madness started to dictate more and more of the white haired young woman's actions on a day-by-day basis...


	50. Escape From Winterfell

Catelyn pulled her fur lined cloak closer to her, shivering; it was now the late night of the day after she witnessed Jory Cassel getting his throat cut and left to bleed out, and Osha stripped and raped by a pair of Dothraki blood riders... She slowly worked on removing the rope that her wrists were tied with, and when she was done after a few long minutes that were like years to her, she pushed the hatch on the door of her cell aside and peeked through; a helmetless Unsullied soldier stood guard in front of the cell; she banged on the door, loudly. - What? - he turned towards the door, speaking a broken form of the common tongue of the Seven Kingdoms, and Catelyn thanked all the gods, the old and the new, that she got a warrior eunuch who didn't spoke just Valyrian as her guard... - I think I'll be sick - she moaned painfully, and then she disappeared from the guard's view; the sounds of throwing up were heard from inside the cell a moment later... The guard pulled a set of keys from his belt and started to open the door, hastily; when he entered, Catelyn hit him in the back of the head with her food bowl, knocking him unconscious, and she took the keys and unsheathed his dagger. She walked out of the cell, slowly, and then she started walking down the hall, quietly, looking for Bran and Rickon... She checked the first four cells, two on the left and two on the right, but without success; only when she unlocked the door of the fifth cell, third on the left, she found her sons fast asleep; she approached them and shook Bran's shoulder to wake him up; after he woke up, she told him to wake his brother, and then she walked towards the kitchens, and picked up a loaf of bread, some salted meat, half a wheel of cheese and two canteens of water, wrapping that up in her cloak after she removed it... She went back towards the cell and told Bran and Rickon to follow her, but they were to be quiet in the case a Dothraki or an Unsullied kept guard in the hallways. They reached the courtyard without any hindrance, and they began walking over the courtyard towards the crypts; halfway there she gasped in horror, almost screaming in fury after she witnessed a horrifying sight; Osha's naked body hung by the wrists from the tower above the entrance, her throat cut, it seemed she was dead for a few hours... Catelyn couldn't make herself to move and cover her two youngest sons' eyes to keep them from seeing an awful sight of their dead caretaker, but she gathered her bearings, luckily, a few moments later, and she waved the boys to follow her. They entered the crypts a few minutes later, and saw thar almost nothing is amiss; almost nothing except the head of Lyanna Stark's statue being removed from the statue and thrown away into the corner... Catelyn felt furious when she saw what they did to Lyanna's statue, but were it a handiwork of a Dothraki or an Unsullied, that she hadn't knew for sure... She touched the wall blindly, in an almost complete and impenetrable darkness, until her hand touched the small door. Catelyn opened it, slowly, in case the doors creaked, so as not to make any noise, but the doors hadn't creaked, luckily. She, Bran and Rickon crawled through the tunnel on the other side of the door, after the three of them passed through, hunched and moving on all four because of the narrow tunnel, Catelyn took care to close the door behind her and then she reached her sons in a few minutes, and they went slowly but steadily through the tunnel for hours; the first light of dawn appeared on the horizon when they got out and were able to stand up to their full heights. They walked slowly for another hour and then they saw the hollowed out weirwood tree, and a pile of stones as big as Rickon's head strewn carelessly at the base of the tree, near the root... When they come closer, Catelyn hoped that Jon and Ygritte were here before, and that Ned, Sansa, Robb, Arya and Talisa ran into them, although she didn't wanted to get her hopes too high, because there was still a possibility that it were not Jon, Ygritte, Ned and others who spent the time in whatever chamber the pathway through the tunnel on the inside of the tree led to, but somebody else, perhaps...


	51. Enraged

Catelyn, Bran and Rickon walked in, and they made a few steps further down the path, until they found themselves in the burial chamber... There were still the remains of the fire that someone lit a few nights ago, but Catelyn realized that she and her sons will have to spend the night without fire, because there was no dry twigs or anything on the floor of the tomb that the three of them could use; they sat close to each other and ate a quarter of bread, a few pieces of salted meat and just a small piece of cheese, and after drinking some water, they all snuggled closer to keep themselves warm during the few hours of sleep before they keep on traveling during those few hours after the noon...

************

Ned, Jon, Ygritte, Arya, Sansa, Robb and Talisa were barely able to make a step forward due to the heavy snowstorm that fell upon them, suddenly; cold wind cut through the bone, and Sansa and Talisa started to shiver and tremble with cold, despite their fur lined cloaks, because their dresses were lighter winter clothes, designated to be worn in a relatively mild Northern climate of Winterfell, not this far in the North beyond the Wall, so they got off the horses, followed by Ygritte and Jon a moment later; the Northern lovers made a quick kill of the horses that Sansa and Talisa rode on, and then Sansa climbed behind Ygritte, and Talisa was behind Jon, and they continued traveling further, very slowly and with some effort; Sansa immediately felt warmer when she snuggled closer to Ygritte, thanks to the older redhaired girl's heavy fur clothes, and it was the same with Talisa, because Jon wore boiled leather and heavy woolen tunic and breeches, high boots and thick gloves... When the storm subsided, they saw that they were somewhere in the swamp laden area that surely did not looked like the White Harbor... - Where are we, Father? - Robb glanced at him, questioningly. - I think this is the Greywater Watch, where House Reed has their stronghold... Come, Howland will be taking us into his home for a night or two - Ned said and spurred his horse; the others followed, slowly...

************

My Queen - Grey Worm stepped into the Great Hall of Winterfell, an Unsullied guard whose dagger Catelyn stole after she knocked him unconscious following closely at his heels; Daenerys was breaking her fast with bread and cheese, and a cup of Arbor gold... - What is it? - she asked curtly. - Black Snake says that lady Catelyn pretended to be ill last night, so she lured him into the trap, making him open the door of her cell and then she hit him in the head with her food bowl, took the keys he carried on his belt and his dagger, as he realized when he woke up from his unconsciousness; she and her sons probably escaped Winterfell during the night... - What?!?!? - Daenerys jumped on her feet, grabbing the knife and then she walked towards two of her soldiers; she rammed the knife into Black Snake's neck, straight into his carotid artery; the soldier fell on the ground, holding his neck with both hands, blood flowing between his fingers, he died of suffocating on his own blood a few moments later. Daenerys walked out of the Great Hall, quickly, and walked into the courtyard... Drogon and Rhaegal growled when they saw their mother. - Dracarys - she spoke quietly, almost in a whisper, and the two dragons spewed their fire towards the rundown stone tower that Jaime and Cersei were fucking each other in when Bran saw them during the late king Robert's visit to Winterfell...


	52. Forming The Hunting Party

A few hours later, in the time of the early noon, Daenerys appeared on the balcony above the courtyard and looked upon two legions of her Dothraki on horsebacks, gathered and heavily armed, and a small smile filled with malice appeared on her lips... - _**Anna mahrazhi ki athvilajerar! loy chomak fin anha ki ven vo seris lan mra ki jin akka elat tat ivezh! anha zala yer tat ezat eyak akka fichat eyak irge! tikh yer tat ven yeri khalessi astat yer?**_ (My warriors! Few people who I had as prisoners escaped from her and went to the wild! I want you to find them and bring them back! Will you do as your queen commands you?) - The wild hooting and screaming of the Dothraki was an answer enough for Daenerys; the horses pranced on their hind legs and neighed loudly, and the Dothraki were screaming like they've gone mad, raising their arakhs in the air. They rode out of the courtyard a few moments later, their hooting echoing in the harsh cold air...


	53. The Danger Arises

Howland Reed and a few other crannogmen returned to the Greywater Watch late one morning after being on a guarding duty for the last few days, their faces grim and worried... - I have bad news, Ned - he said - we ambushed a Dothraki patrol not far from the spot where Joffrey attacked Arya while you were traveling to King's Landing as per the late king Robert's orders. They managed to kill one of ours, but we beat them down to the last men, and some of them ended up as the prey of lizard lions. You and your entourage are not safe here at the Greywater Watch anymore, you will have to leave. - And where could we be as much safe as we were with you, Howland? - Ned asked grimly. - I know, my old friend - Reed sighed - nowhere is much safe anymore these days, not since Daenerys Targaryen turned Winterfell into her stronghold, and she'll probably use it as the base for organizing the attacks on the keeps ruled by the Houses still loyal to house Stark... How long until you and your group are ready for traveling? - he asked. - Well, if we sleep just half the night and spend the rest of the time packing the few belongings that we have, we can leave at the rise of dawn - Ned replied; Howland nodded shortly. - I suggest you travel to Eastwatch by the Sea, Targaryen and her armies will not find you there so easily, there are a lot of unsearched caves in the vicinity - he said, and Ned nodded in return, accepting his friend's suggestion...


	54. Dragonstone

It was mid-to-late afternoon several days later when the galley with three sails bearing the sigil of House Stark dropped its anchor at the open sea and two boats were lowered, one for Jon, Ned, Arya, Bran, Rickon and Ygritte, the other for Catelyn, Robb and Talisa... Three days have passed by since our travelers left The Greywater Watch, two since they rode back beyond the Wall and found Catelyn, Bran and Rickon hiding in the tomb where Ygritte found herself a sword; the captain of the galley informed Ned that they may keep the boats, and he upped the anchor and sailed back to the White Harbor. A bit more than an hour later they arrived at the shore of Dragonstone and got out of the boats, pulling them up onto the sand so that the sea doesn't carry them away in the open, because then they'd be partly cut off from some of the Kingdoms... Slowly, they climbed the stairs and entered the castle, and Ned decided that he would take the War Room as his solar, but it would also serve as the Great Hall for the time while they are here; he, Ygritte and Jon removed a tattered Targaryen banner from the wall and Ned decided they were to burn it later, and in its place they hung the banner of House Stark...

************

The night was nearing slowly, while Daenerys, who has by now proclaimed herself Lady of Winterfell and Queen Warden of the North, anxiously awaited the return of approximately hundredth Dothraki patrol she sent to look for the fugitives so she can put them on trial once all of them were brought back here in chains, all except Ygritte, that is... Daenerys decided to have some pleasure time wild the little wild redhead whore before she kills her for taking her rightful lover (as she always thought of Jon, becoming more mad and delusional on a daily basis), and then nobody could stop her from having Jon all to herself, because she was the Queen and nobody had the right to say 'No' to her, her enemies should all learn that the Targaryens take who and what they want, when they want, and that their wishes and desires are the ones that matter... She stood in the courtyard, flanked by her newly appointed Master-at-Arms ser Jorah Mormont on her left, and her captain of the guard Torgo Nudho on her right; both men stood a bit behind her. - Have you found anybody in you patrols? - she addressed the Dothraki warrior who rode in the front, speaking the Common Tongue; a large number of them were slowly but steadily learning it on the daily basis. - No, khaleesi - the rider replied - we rode to Last Hearth, Shadow Tower, Dreadfort and we also searched a few abandoned strongholds in between, but we found nobody there. - Ser Jorah - Daenerys spoke, not looking away from the few riders. - What is it, khaleesi? - the old knight asked. - My enemies may be hiding at Dragonstone - she said - I want you to get your horse and ride there, and tell Stark and his entourage that they are to come here in three days and bend their knees or they can expect me coming there with all my Dothraki and Unsullied, and then I will grant them all the fitting punishment for their disobedience, the traitor Jon Snow and his savage whore Ygritte will be the first ones I will deal with, and the next two will probably be Ned and Catelyn Stark's youngest sons Bran and Rickon. - I thought you wanted to make Snow your lover, khaleesi - Jorah said. - I wanted to, ser Jorah - she replied - but what I want more as of now is to relieve both him and his wildling slut of their lives in this world. Had he accepted my generous offer, I could have given him everything, but he rejected me for some little barbarian bitch, and now they shall both pay the bloody price for his insubordination, but they will not be the only ones, oh no... Now go, ser Jorah, you have a message to relay, and it's a long travel to Dragonstone when you are on horseback. - I am yours to command, khaleesi - Jorah bowed and turned on his heel, riding out through the main gate of Winterfell a few minutes later...


	55. The Oathbreaker

Two-and-a-half days later Jon, Arya and Ygritte were standing on the battlements of Dragonstone, keeping guard; it was some time after dawn when they saw a lone rider, armed only with sword and dagger, approaching, and Jon asked Arya to go wake her lord father up, and his cousin got away eagerly to do her task... Ned appeared a few minutes later, wearing his tunic, breeches, boots and leather jerkin, and he carried a sword at his hip. - What is your business here, ser Jorah? - he asked when he saw the man he hoped never to see ever again. - The Queen demands you all come to Winterfell and bend your knees to her or suffer the consequences of your disobedience - Mormont said without showing even a bit of courtesy and atleast try to indicate that he mayhaps could get down from the saddle... - Neither of us who are here will do that - Ned replied curtly and narrowed his eyes at the man without honor who was now before him. - You have to, the right of choosing is not yours to make - Jorah replied - Daenerys Targaryen is the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and all of you owe her your unwavering loyalty and allegiance. - A traitor like you has no right to speak to me about allegiance and loyalty - Ned cut him off coldly - you turned your back on loyalty to the whole North when you sold the poachers on your land to the Tyroshi slaver several years ago, instead of sending them to the Night's Watch to serve at the Wall as is the law in the North. Now, turn your horse and leave before you are removed from here by force - Ned looked at Ygritte and she pulled an arrow out of her quiver, nocked it and pulled the bowstring, aiming at Jorah... - I will take my leave - the old knight huffed - but do not delude yourself, lord Stark; this is far from over, the One True Queen will not take to your refusal of her offer with a kind heart. - And with that, the disgraced Northerner turned his horse away from the gates of Dragonstone and started riding away, slowly...


	56. The Northern Delegation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about giving Ygritte's sword a name, and the first name that came to my mind was Balmung, a name of the sword wielded by a young dragonslayer Sigurd/Siegfried of Xanten, played by German actor Benno Furmann in 2004's fantasy epic TV movie 'The Ring of the Nibelungs', directed by Uli Edel and co-starring Kristanna Loken, Alicia Witt, Samuel West, Max von Sydow, Ralf Moeller, Gotz Otto, Sean Higgs, Julian Sands, Dean Slater and Robert Pattinson...
> 
> No copyright infringement intended (Written for entertainment purposes only)

A week-and-a-half later, Grey Worm entered into the Great Hall of Winterfell, followed by a pair of Unsullied soldiers, while Daenerys was finishing breaking her fast... - My Queen - he bowed - Stark of Winterfell demands to see you right away... - He dares demanding things from me?!?!? - Daenerys jumped from her chair and slammed her fist on the table - what right does he have to demand anything from the rightful Queen! Is he alone? - she asked, a bit mildly, after a moment... - No - Grey Worm replied - Snow and the wild redhead are with him. They said that they will not give up their swords just because a self-proclaimed lady of Winterfell orders them to do so, and that North will not take orders from an outsider. - Very well. Send them in then - Daenerys huffed; Ned, Jon and Ygritte entered the Great Hall several moments later, armed with their swords, and Ygritte also had her bow and quiver of arrows slung across her back (she left her dagger in Dragonstone). - Have you come to bend the knee? - Daenerys asked the trio - and have you came to make me your lady wife as well? - she looked at Jon. - No - Ned replied curtly - we came to tell you to leave Winterfell along with your whole army, because you are a Targaryen, and the Targaryens have no place in Winterfell. - I would advise you to choose your next words carefully, Stark - Daenerys said coldly - they could easily be your last in this world. Grey Worm! - she yelled - seize these three! - Yes, my Queen! - her captain of the guard replied and asked one of the soldiers behind his back to pass him the spear; the soldier did so and Grey Worm walked closer to the three Northerners, the tip of his spear aimed at Ned's chest... Ned, Jon and Ygritte pulled their swords, and in the next moment Grey Worm and the soldier on his left charged at Ned, Ygritte and Jon, with spears in their hands, while the third soldier whose spear Grey Worm asked for unsheathed his dagger and joined the other two... Ygritte cut the iron tip of the spear of the second Unsullied soldier with her sword, leaving a useless wooden shaft, but Grey Worm came closer to her and rammed the tip of his spear into her shoulder, forcing her to hold her sword with only one hand, and he disarmed her easily in the next second, his spear grazing her right wrist, her sword flying out of her hand. He made a move like he was going to stab her in the stomach and give her a heavy wound, but the blade of Longclaw passed through his stomach instead, killing him. Ned cut the throat of the soldier who was armed with a dagger, and then he got to Ygritte's discarded sword and lifted it, sheathing his own, while Jon put Ygritte's right hand (with a grazed wrist) around his neck, tossing Longclaw to Ned so that he can put his other hand around Ygritte's waist and help her walk... With Grey Worm and other two Unsullied dead, Ned, Jon and Ygritte quickly ran out of the Great Hall and into the courtyard. The few Unsullied and Dothraki out there were resting, so they didn't had their weapons close to them at the moment; Ned tossed Longclaw and Balmung back to Jon and Ygritte, and Jon helped Ygritte to put her sword back into the scabbard, while he also sheathed Longclaw, and helped Ygritte get back up on her horse... Ned and Jon hopped onto the backs of their horses and then the three of them rode out of Winterfell courtyard as quickly as they could. Daenerys appeared outside a few moments later and looked up above the rundown tower from which Jaime Lannister threw Bran Stark off in the past; Drogon rested on the roof of the tower, Rhaegal on the roof of the balcony overlooking the courtyard... - _**Sovetes!**_ (Fly!) - Daenerys yelled and both dragons screeched loud deafening roars, spread their wings and slowly started rising in the air...


	57. Another Dragon Lost

Ned, Jon and Ygritte were riding away from Winterfell for approximately half an hour at a quick pace, trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and a pair of large roaring dragons that were send after them. They rode inside a grove and lost themselves between the trees, and the small forest was thick, with trees placed closely to one another, so that the dragons could not spot either of them easily, flying rather high in the air... They were passing by one of the older trees, when Ygritte let out a quiet, painful moan and fell from the saddle onto the moss covered soil. - No! - Jon yelled, jumping down from his horse and running over to her, kneeling next to her prone form and gently lifting her upper body, placing her in a sitting position; her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow, and her skin more pale than usual; Jon removed his right glove and put his hand onto her forehead... - She's burning - he told Ned. - She must be having a fever - Ned replied and he also knelt by her; together, he and Jon opened her jacket and then a nasty smell blew in their faces, making them feel like they were going to vomit. - It's the wound from the spear on her shoulder - Ned told Jon a few moments later - it must be infected. - What should we do, then, lord Stark? - Jon asked. - I know not, Jon - Ned replied with a heavy sigh - the late maester Luwin never taught us about the healing purposes of herbs and flowers in the forest, he thought that we don't need to be taught about that, being the sons and daughters of a highborn lord and lady, that only smallfolk needs to know such things. Start the fire, Jon, and let us pray to all the gods, the Old and the New, that the infection from the wound does not spread to the rest of Ygritte's arm. - Jon nodded shortly and threw himself into starting the fire; when it started to crackle and burn after a few minutes, Ned unsheathed his dagger and brought the tip of the blade to the flames. - Jon - he addressed his adopted son/nephew. - What? - Jon asked, looking up. - Remove your sword belt and make Ygritte bite on it so she does not bite her own tongue off, because this is going to hurt her a lot - Ned replied, and Jon looked down on his Wildling lover; her eyelids slowly fluttered a couple of times, and it seemed that she was coming back to consciousness... - Ygritte, love - Jon whispered in her ear, soothingly, removing his belt - I need you to bite on this - he said; Ygritte turned her head towards him, slowly, her eyes half opened, and she did as he asked her... - Aaaahhhh! - Ygritte yelled loudly and in pain when the heated tip of the blade of Ned's dagger touched the exposed skin of her left shoulder... Tears of pain sprang to her eyes and to Jon' as well, although his tears were of worry for his Free Folk wife. - This should stop the infection spreading further - Ned told grimly, cooling the tip of his dagger blade in a puddle of melted snow nearby and putting it back into the sheath. They spent a few hours in the thicket, resting and regaining their strength; it was now after the noon, but they could not say for certain if it was early, mid-after or late... They heard footsteps passing nearby and Ned and Jon grabbed the hilts of their swords, ready to draw them in a moment's notice. After a few minutes of anxious waiting, they saw a humanlike being dressed in some strange armor, breeches and boots walking out of the grove, a few meters away from them, and Jon remembered the attack of Daenerys' army on the Free Folk encampment on Skirling Pass when Tormund was killed and he and Ygritte were disarmed and taken as prisoners. The Night King's spear cost Viserion his life then, but what did it aimed at now?, Jon thought. The answer became quite clear after a few moments when Drogon and Rhaegal flew from the direction of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, screeching loudly. The spear flew through the air and hit Rhaegal in the chest, and the dragon started descending from the sky with a roar of pain, just like Viserion did that day; Drogon let another screech of pain for his fallen brother and kept flying to get back to Winterfell...


	58. The Last Dragon

Night fell slowly over the rooftops of Winterfell when Drogon returned and slowly landed into the courtyard; Daenerys and ser Jorah quickly ran out and the young mad bitch teared up when she saw that the dragon named after her first husband was the only one who returned. She got closer to him and started to caress his scaly skin, gently... - Don't worry, Drogon - she whispered comfortingly - mother will not let you be taken away from me, my child, my baby, and whoever has taken another one of your brothers will pay, be it my disloyal nephew Jon Snow or that wild whore with red hair he loves more than me despite the fact that he shouldn't love a savage slut like her at all, as he should love me, the Queen. Even if it weren't neither one of them but the Night King, considering that he killed Viserion before, doesn't matter, they shall all pay with fire and blood, I will burn them all... Except the barbarian bitch, I will humiliate her in public, I will give her to a few of my Dothraki to share her between themselves, I will enjoy her cries of pain while my khalasar rapes her, and I will force Jon Snow to watch his wild cunt being taken by my blood riders as a slave that she should be, and then we shall all see just how much of a 'Free' Folk she is, and I will personally cut her throat and have Jon for myself! - she muttered, her eyes closed, unaware of Jorah casting worried glances behind her back and Tyrion watching her with a frown, standing on the wooden balcony overlooking the courtyard... _**This is not good at all**_ , he thought, _**I must escape Winterfell and travel away, but where? I have to find Jon and Ygritte and the rest of the Stark entourage and join them, I will be more safer with them than if I stay here...**_

************

Ygritte was in a fitful sleep later that night, moaning something and tossing and turning, her forehead moist with beads of sweat illuminated by the dying fire... - _**Nei! Slepptu mér! Jón! Jón! Hjálpaðu mér, ég vil ekki vera nauðgað af Dothraki! Slepptu mér, óþefur dýr! Nei! JON!!!**_ (No! Let me go! Jon! Jon! Help me, I don't want to be raped by Dothraki! Let go of me, stinking beasts! Noooo! JON!!!) - she screamed loudly, jumping up on her bedroll by the fire, her eyes wide open with terror, and she swallowed lungfuls of air... - Ygritte! Calm down, it was just a bad dream, you had a nightmare, it's not real! Seven hells, Ygritte, relax, I beg you! Please, Ygritte! - he yelled with tears in his eyes and her breathing slowed down and became steadier. Her eyes became moist with tears, and she buried her face in his leathers and wool, her hands strongly gripping his shoulders and she clung to him like a frightened little girl, sobbing loudly and letting an occasional hiccupy breath, while Jon moved his left hand in circles on her back, his right hand gently and comfortingly caressing her hair, trying to calm her down as quickly as possible, despite him knowing that neither one of them will be able to catch a bit of sleep anymore that night...


	59. Surrounded

The dragon's roar echoed loudly in the air, and Jon, Ygritte and Ned jumped on their feet, their late morning meal forgotten, and they ran down the hall towards the outer terraced plateau in the southern wing of the castle on Dragonstone; high above their heads, a riderless dragon swooped above the rooftops of the former fortress of House Targaryen and Stannis Baratheon, now taken by Ned and those of his family and entourage who still managed to survive; it was several days past since their escape from Targaryen-controlled Winterfell, and they all thanked the gods, both Old and New, that Ygritte was not plagued with horrible nightmares about being a prisoner of the Dothraki who took turns raping her; to everyone's great elation and huge sense of ease she was more or less back to being her usual self for the most part, here and there she would exchange japes with Tyrion or take part in the conversation, usually with Jon and Arya, or she would sometimes asked Catelyn for advice about a thing she was not acquintaned with; despite being a true warrior woman of the North to her core, she took some southern things a bit to her heart, for instance Sansa taught her that sometimes it will do a girl good to wear a dress, and Ygritte made an exception, feeling differently after she put on a dark green long sleeved silk gown with a bit of cleavage, showing her breasts slightly, enough to make her desirable to men without her wearing her clothes in a provocative manner... On such an occasion in the early night hours the day before, Sansa let out a soft gasp of shock when she saw Ygritte cutting the skirt of the dress she wore on the sides, and she asked the other redhaired girl what she was doing. - I'm cuttin' this for me boots t' be seen - Ygritte replied, grinning, and after modifying the skirt she pulled her knee high brow leather riding boots on - jus' because I mad an exception o' wearin' a dress made o' the finest silk from Tralalalaleedey, doesn' mean I have t' wear shoes like you do. - Sansa nodded shortly and realized that Ygritte was right about that... Back into the present moment, Ned, Jon and Ygritte ran out onto the balcony as Drogon swooped above once more and they saw that every patch of the land in front of the castle, including the beach, was obscured from sight by numerous Dothraki on horsebacks and the legions of Unsullied on foot. - Seven hells - Jon muttered quietly, while Ygritte cursed more freely in the language of the First Men. - _**Fokking Targaryen tík!**_ (Fucking Targaryen bitch!) - she growled - _**Ef við öll förum héðan lifandi mun ég drepa þann hvíthærða hóra sjálfan mig!**_ (If all of us get out of here alive, I will kill that white haired whore myself!) - Loud and bloodthirsty screams of the Dothraki were the only thing she got in return as a reply to her pledge...


	60. The Dragon's Fall

As the dawn arose over the rooftops and battlements of Winterfell, Daenerys stood on the balcony overlooking the training courtyard, looking disheveled, her eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep, her hair matted and dirty, her face gaunt; Drogon flew overhead, screeching loudly, and he flew down next to her a few moments later... - My dear child - she whispered, caressing the dragon's scaly snout - will you help your mother to burn them all? Will you let me ride you to Dragonstone and set those traitors on fire? - she cooed with her eyes closed, tears pouring down her cheeks, and she failed to see Drogon's mouth opening slowly... - _**Dracarys**_ \- she whispered, and Drogon blew a blazing jet of flame at her, so fast that she did not even had time to scream, and she turned into a small pile of ash a few moments later. Drogon let out a loud roar and slowly spread his wings, taking flight... He took direction towards the White Harbor when suddenly a spear with an ice tip flew from between the trees of a small forest nearby, hitting Drogon's chest, right where the dragon's heart was; Drogon yelped in pain and tumbled down slowly towards the icy gray surface of the sea...


	61. Epilogue: Returning Home/Leaving the North

It was a week and a half ago when Ned, Jon, Ygritte, Arya and the rest of their entourage rode inside the courtyard of Winterfell, and some of them felt like crying when they saw their home being damaged by dragon fire; Jon jumped down from the saddle, crouched and caught a few grains from the small pile of ash between his thumb and forefinger... - Daenerys... - he whispered, thinking about what could have had happened if his aunt had not had wanted to break him and Ygritte apart but respected that they were in love; mayhaps then Jon and his foster father/uncle would have supported Jon's paternal aunt wanting to become the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, but with what happened, the white haired mother of dragons forcefully taking Winterfell from them... Ygritte entered the stables and discovered ser Jorah Mormont sitting near one of the horses' stalls, sword in hand, his throat cut by the blade of an arakh, most obviously... - He paid for dishonor he brought upon himself, his House and the North - Ned stated dryly - we will burn his body tonight. - He turned and left to help Robb getting Talisa off the cart and onto the solid ground. - I am thinking of moving to Volantis with Talisa - Robb announced while they ate their evening meal, and that news shocked everyone around the table... - You don't have to do that, son - Ned spoke - there will be enough place here in Winterfell for all of us. - I know, but I want to do it - Robb replied - Jon and Ygritte will be the better King and Queen in the North than Talisa and I could ever hope to be. - All right, son, if you have had made up your mind - Ned spoke slowly - I wish you luck in your future life with Talisa. - Thank you, father - Robb replied - we will ride to the White Harbor on the day after morrow... - Arya? - Ned and Catelyn looked at their younger daughter a bit questioningly - you plan to call your friend from the Riverlands, Hot Pie, to come here and be the new cook, now that Gage is killed? - Yes, father, mother - Arya nodded shortly - and I also intend to call Gendry here to be our new blacksmith instead of Mikken, since they killed him. - You love him, don't you? - Jon asked his younger cousin/half sister, smiling at her; Ygritte smiled at her as well... - Yes - Arya nodded - I love him the same way as you and Ygritte love each other, Jon - she replied...

************

The next day, on the late morning, the Targaryen banners with a red three headed dragon on a black background were removed from the battlements of Winterfell and the banners of House Stark with a grey head of a direwolf on the dirty-white-and-light- green background were raised to decorate the grey stone walls; Ned, Arya, Jon and Ygritte stood on the wooden balcony overlooking the training courtyard... - This was just the smallest and first step in the reconstruction of our home - Ned told them - we will begin the real work in several days. Arya - he called for his youngest daughter, who was armed with Needle and catspaw dagger with Valyrian steel blade, and she followed him down the wooden stairs and inside the castle, where they walked down the hall towards her lord father's solar. On the battlements, Jon looked up once, gazing at the pale winter Sun that weakly shown down upon them, and then he turned to look at Ygritte, a small smile on his lips; she smiled back at him a moment later, and then he crashed his lips upon hers in a fierce, loving kiss... - I love you, my Queen, Kissed By Fire - he whispered, and Ygritte's eyes become wet with tears, but she still kept smiling at him, even when tears ran down her cheeks... - And I love you as well, my King, Lord Snow - she whispered back and then they continued kissing each other, lovingly...

\- THE END - 


End file.
